This exercise aims to help veterans recognize and manage the emotional responses that contribute to their pain experience. By identifying the 6 F's – Fear, Focus, Fighting, Frustration, Figuring Out, and Fixing – participants can develop strategies to cope more effectively with chronic pain.

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Objective:

To provide veterans with practical tools to understand and manage the emotional factors that influence their pain.

Materials Needed:

• Pen and paper or a journal

• Comfortable seating or space for relaxation

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Journaling Questions

• Fear:

  • Think about what fears were associated with your pain. Were you afraid of the pain getting worse, or of the pain indicating a serious problem?

  • Please write about how these fears might have intensified tyour pain.

• Focus:

  • Discuss how much you were focusing on your pain. Did you find it hard to think about anything else?

  • Note down the effects of this intense focus on your overall pain experience.

• Fighting:

  • Explore whether you were trying to fight the pain or push through it.

  • Reflect on how this approach affected you stress levels and pain.

• Frustration:

  • Talk about the frustration you felt due to the pain. Did it make you angry or irritable?

  • Describe how this frustration impacted your pain and emotional well-being.

• Figuring Out:

  • Consider if you were obsessively trying to understand or fix the pain.

  • Write about how this quest for answers affected your mental state and pain levels.

• Fixing:

  • Discuss your attempts to eliminate the pain. Did you try multiple treatments or remedies?

  • Reflect on the outcomes of these efforts and your emotional response to them.

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Take time at the end of the exercise to read through your notes.