No, you’re not losing your mind. (and, yes, something is ACTUALLY wrong. Let’s fix it!)

When you are sick or hurting, things can easily feel very bleak and frustrating. Intervention after intervention, one diagnosis followed by another. No one seems to have the answers and it feels like you’re not making any progress towards getting better.

It can be disorienting, and it’s understandable if you start to lose hope of ever feeling well again. Every day you have a cloud hanging over you. I call this the Eeyore condition. The hobbies that you enjoyed before seem impossible. The work that fulfilled you seems too difficult to even start. Your body has become your greatest enemy.

But this isn’t even the worst part. The doctors and your loved ones around you don’t seem to understand what is happening to you. They don’t get why you are so tired and not yourself. Eventually, you start wondering if everything is just in your head and that you might be going crazy.

This is a scenario that I see and hear all the time in my office. Eventually, when all the medicines and interventions fail, the patient is left with the sense that they are beyond hope, or even worse, that somehow their condition is just a product of their imagination.

I’m here to say, YOU’RE NOT GOING CRAZY.

You are not losing your mind, You just need to find an answer.

Most approaches to healthcare are geared towards pain and symptom management, which is understandable in the short term when you have to show up to work or take care of your family. But what if your condition becomes chronic? What if the interventions that are meant for the short term fail to give you long a term solution?

This is why when we look at spine we look for the underlying structural abnormality that is causing the problem. If we can identify, correct, and stabilize this underlying structural abnormality then there can be optimism for long-term improvement.

Trekking through the healthcare system can beat you up and cause emotional distress, but don’t despair. Find doctors that look beyond just your symptoms. Find doctors that can provide a blueprint to help solve your problem.