I went to a medical conference once where the presenter argued that adrenaline junkies have a form of PTSD / anxiety.

I can now believe that. Your body feels alive when you activate your fight flight fright system. Not only are you activating it, you are actually using your body – all the energy that is in the FFF system – is being let out by snow boarding or sky diving or gymnastics. Many adrenaline junkies even turn to dangerous jobs, blasters, loggers, anything dangerous that gets the FFF system racing.

When you lose the ability to do these sports due to injury and pain, you suffer an enormous loss. You have the drive to repeat these activities because it exhilarates you. You feel alive. Competent. Powerful. Pain and injury take that away. What a loss!

Now, once you no longer feel that power and competence, you can feel that you have failed yourself. That adds to the awful stigma of pain.

We have to devise ways that we can help our BODIES recover. Our brains can work around it – we are very good at kidding ourselves – but our bodies keep the score.

Try the daily stress program to help your body. https://painimprovement.com/daily-stress-program-2/

Share any other ideas you have.