I hear that line tossed around alot online and sometimes in therapy and Im just gonna go ahead and say I think its completely untrue. I find it kind of insulting actually because I have been anxious and depressed my whole life and I would kill to go back to when I didn't have a chronic physical pain that pretty much ruins any enjoyment I could wring out of life. I still try to do the things that used to make me happy and while I still do them its always stained by the way I feel. I find this statement of mental pain being worse is usually parroted by people whos haven't experienced a physical disease THAT DOESN'T GO AWAY I think they are equating it to normal pain and what most people experience which is, I hurt myself or got sick but after some rest it gets better with time and heals. In that regard I would say its true because you know its only temporary and theres light at the end of the tunnel where as emotional issues have staying power and must be worked through or in some cases medication is required. But when you get ill/hurt (especially if you don't know how or what caused it) it starts out that way and you are just waiting for it to pass but for some reason it doesn't and then day after day your hope is slowly dashed and it gets worse and worse and after so many appts and specialists you one day realize no matter what you will not get better I dont think any type of emotional pain can compare to that.
Its almost impossible to accept your new reality and move on and not feel like you are constantly mourning your old life. A shitty byproduct of all this too is the loneliness and isolation, its made me bitter and have a bit of hatred for healthy people who are laughing and enjoying life in front of you even though they did nothing wrong, all you want is to "join in on the reindeer games" of life but you are an outcast because either you isolate yourself or friends who used to call you end up stopping because pain makes you flaky. Just because you are having a "good pain day" today and you make plans for tomorrow based on how your feeling today doesn't mean you will wake up feeling thatgood the next day so you feel too shitty and have to cancel. The worst part is no one can help you, all they can do is offer platitudes that end up pissing you off (I know they mean well not their fault) because you've heard it all before and know its not reality.
Its almost impossible to accept your new reality and move on and not feel like you are constantly mourning your old life. A shitty byproduct of all this too is the loneliness and isolation, its made me bitter and have a bit of hatred for healthy people who are laughing and enjoying life in front of you even though they did nothing wrong, all you want is to "join in on the reindeer games" of life but you are an outcast because either you isolate yourself or friends who used to call you end up stopping because pain makes you flaky. Just because you are having a "good pain day" today and you make plans for tomorrow based on how your feeling today doesn't mean you will wake up feeling thatgood the next day so you feel too shitty and have to cancel. The worst part is no one can help you, all they can do is offer platitudes that end up pissing you off (I know they mean well not their fault) because you've heard it all before and know its not reality.