Stigma appears in many forms and when it occurs, we often tend to believe what others impose on us.
This is what we call in ASpida “Internalized or felt stigma”. Once we come to believe it, this ends up going down the road to self-judgment, guilt, or other uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.
When we get hooked by those thoughts and feelings, we may tend to feel bad or even allow ourselves not to be treated well. For example, we may feel less motivated and less assertive towards others.
To find out how to “unhook people with chronic pain from stigmatized behaviors”, a group of members from Chronic Pain Ireland (CPI), recently formed a Public and Patient Involvement Group (PPI). They work with a group of researchers from the School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland, to create a new self-care ½ day group-based workshop to tackle the effects of stigma.
The team has been met in several virtual meetings to understand what can help people with chronic pain against stigmatized behaviors. They have now created activities, illustrating experiential exercises, metaphors, and techniques that are informed from the latest of Contextual Behavioral Science. Read more here.