Chronic Pain Challenges Workplace Cognition

Neck and Shoulder Pain at Work

This article is to inform those in charge of the workplace. Health and safety now include mental health, but little consideration is given to about 20% of people who live with ongoing pain. This constant unremitting pain affects the cognition of employees daily.

Chronic Pain remains Hidden in Workplace

Employees often keep their pain and concomitant symptoms hidden. They are afraid to admit they have pain that specialists and pain clinics have told them to “learn to live with their pain”. As you will read this creates difficulties at work with focus, concentration, and the ability to do their best regardless of the effort they put into their work.

Perhaps the greatest fear is that they have to keep the knowledge of their persistent pain a secret.

A comment from a businesswoman prompted this article. I was researching with employers to understand how chronic pain is supported in the workplace. She is a woman in her 40s who is also the business owner. Sometime previously, she had been suffering from neck and shoulder pain. At times severe.

“I'm able to do the basic routine work but not complicated work that requires thought.”

She then added that “she had no intelligence” when attempting more complex work.

She has a position of responsibility and able to control her workload. She was lucky enough to be able to balance her workload dependent on pain severity – an option often not available to most employees in pain.

Yes, she had control over the tasks that she did each day, but not her cognition.

Under pressure and because of the chronic pain she had no ability to perform more analytical, decision-making tasks or projects that needed inquiry and research to formulate strategies. These activities were not possible because of the effect that persistent pain was having on her cognition. These activities asked too much of her brain reducing her ability to focus.

Do employers understand chronic pain conditions?

For those reading this who are not familiar with the term ‘chronic pain’ or its meaning. We are all familiar with acute pain such as from injury. Here I must differentiate between having a pain of short duration and heals, versus continual persistent pain.

Conditions such as fibromyalgia, constant headaches, neck pain, back pain and the ever-increasing number of undiagnosable pain that people are living with.

Therefore, for someone who has to work when living with persistent pain creates challenges mentioned above - every day.

Now let's consider how the stress of work can also impact the brain. Ongoing pain can be the reason why those living with pain eventually have to find alternative employment.

o   Work that is quieter.

o   Work that is more flexible.

o   Work that requires less “intelligence.”

o   Work that is more routine.

Any of these can be the first step away from their career. It also means the loss to companies and businesses of valuable talent.

Cognition and Prefrontal Cortex of the Brain

Complex tasks require the prefrontal cortex of the brain. However, it has been shown the constant stress that accompanies chronic pain changes the ability of neurons within the prefrontal cortex, in a negative way.

For example, consider messages sent along neural pathways in the brain rather like a group of interconnected roads.

If the journey on these roads is straightforward.

o   Only along one road.

o   Keep to that road.

o   Keep straight ahead.

 Easy?

Alternatively, if the journey requires,

o   Turns,

o   roundabouts,

o   traffic lights,

o   perhaps a redirection due to roadworks.

Complicated?

Complicated needs memory, attention, and focus.

Hence the woman above could do all the basic everyday routine tasks. She knew those particular systems or let's say the neural pathways had been well learnt. Therefore the brain could work automatically just as driving along a straight road – easy.

However, when asked to do more complex tasks,

o   Creating plans.

o   New product development.

o   Complete a presentation.

o   Lead a meeting.

Too complicated!

Some of you reading this may think she needs to push through, do her best. Understandable, many of us do this when we are not feeling 100%. But what must be recognised here is that the “mechanisms” of her brain make this impossible.

If we continue to work when overloaded and overwhelmed without effective cognition, work outcomes will suffer. And with that the self-confidence and self-belief of the individual will only diminish.

I hope the new changes relating to support in the workplace for mental health will encourage employers and managers to provide help for those with chronic pain.

Chronic Pain Support Program

Jean Jordan – Pain Coach & Naturopathic Medicine Practitioner.

The information on this website is for education purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis. Consult you local healthcare practitioner.

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