> For the amount of words you regularly commit to speculating about mental issues on this site, ever think about just getting out of your own head once in awhile? You know, day-by-day just practicing to stop caring so much about every small emotional upswing & downswing? Ya know, just letting them be what they are.
This reminds me of my friend's advice to me last fall. I'd sufferred an injury to my back which caused me to have a herniated disk. This in turn put pressure on my sciatic nerve. My friend told me to just walk normally. If I could have, I wouldn't have been limping and cringing with every step.
For people who have long term pain (and who have had the scary dangerous stuff ruled out by a proper doctor) the old advice was "lie flat on your back and don't exercise". This is the worst thing those people can do. Modern advice is "carefully take paracetamol and keep moving as normally as possible; and when you're back to normal get some exercise to strengthen those back muscles".
I'll add to this, pay attention to your chairs. I originally thought my injury was in my leg (that's where all the pain was). It had lasted 3 weeks before it was properly diagnosed. After being put on steroids and starting PT I saw quick improvement, but I plateaued after a couple weeks. I realized that my chairs at home were the problem after I spent a few nights sitting at my kitchen table working on a project. That chair put me in a posture that helped a lot. Switched back to another chair for a couple nights, I got worse, switched back, I got better. So try different seats for a few nights each, you may find that the ones that feel comfortable to sit in are actually hindering your recovery.
There's a time and place for grace, and there's a time and place for a little bit of exhortation. If you had been lying in bed for months or years, constantly moaning about your pain, maybe your friend would have been right to give you a little nudge nudge. Even in physical rehab, therapists prefer to get a patient acting "as if" they are normal as soon as possible, even if there is pain.
When it comes to changing one's own mental outlook/attitudes/moods, if someone doesn't have faith that reaching out to take those painful steps of courage will, in time, "fix their back", then it most certainly won't be fixed.
This reminds me of my friend's advice to me last fall. I'd sufferred an injury to my back which caused me to have a herniated disk. This in turn put pressure on my sciatic nerve. My friend told me to just walk normally. If I could have, I wouldn't have been limping and cringing with every step.