“You are not your pain. You are the pulse beneath it.” ~ Jean Voice Dart
When pain becomes chronic and prevents us from living with passion and purpose, we face significant challenges. How can we move out of the shadow of chronic pain and begin to experience contentment, gratitude, and joy?
More than 50 million Americans and over a billion people worldwide endure daily chronic pain. Of those, more than one-fourth experience daily suicidal thoughts. Yet, these are more than statistics on an iPhone, facts during a workshop, or words in a blog. They are real people—people we see daily without knowing their burdens. Some struggle with despair and are dangerously close to suicide. Many go through their day robotically, hoping to find meaning and passion for life. Still, millions have found the secret to a joy-filled life alongside chronic pain. They are the joy warriors, and you are one, too.
From Shadows to Light – Shift and Uplift
Who are the joy warriors, and how do they navigate through pain?
In a midwestern farming community, Zita sits in her room, staring at her medals while quietly managing pain. She remembers a different time: the electric roar of the crowd, the burn in her calves as she pivoted, the ball leaving her fingertips in a perfect arc. The buzzer blared just as the ball sliced through the net with a clean, satisfying swoosh. Her coach shouted, “Alright, Zita! That’s the way to do it!” She was limitless, powerful, and alive. Her daydream abruptly stops. Her eyes scan the framed memories decorating her room, and she wonders, “What do I do now?” She turns off the whispers of doubt and embraces the joy warrior beating within her heart. Zita is ready to create an exciting new life.
Joy warriors dig deeper to face hidden truths—the things they won’t tell themselves, their loved ones, or coworkers. They embrace these truths to discover essential life lessons. That is the moment when their light illuminates the world, and they no longer hide in the shadows of darkness. They shift and uplift.
Why Should I Care About Chronic Pain?
Before we find out more about the joy warriors, let’s take a closer look at chronic pain. You may think chronic pain is not part of your life. Perhaps that’s true, but pain and suffering—even when hidden or ignored—can impact everyone. Chronic pain leaves marks on our physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. This silent, invisible condition weaves through all body systems. Many who live with chronic illness, pain, trauma, or injury face twice the risk of suicide compared to those without. Surveys reveal a dramatic rise worldwide. The ripple impact of chronic pain is profound and can no longer be ignored.
Thabo, a teenager in Cape Town, lives with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Memories of childhood bullying cause panic attacks and suicidal thoughts. Isolated each day beneath a tin roof, he manages pain by crafting draadkars—cars from repurposed wire, bottle caps, and flip-flop rubber—embracing sweet memories of his grandfather’s hands guiding him. Now, Thabo brings joy to the neighborhood children with each creation.
How do we know that Thabo has chronic pain?
Chronic Pain is pain that
- has stopped being a helpful warning signal
- has lasted for three months or longer
- is experienced most days or every day
- interferes with daily routines or activities
- is disabling or requires assistance
- affects mental, physical, emotional, sociological, or spiritual decisions, actions, and considerations in our lives.
How Do We Recognize Suicidal Ideation?
Recognizing people with suicidal ideation is not easy. Chronic pain affects people across all walks of life. Those living with chronic pain report mental distress nearly five times more often than those without it. They are eighteen times more likely to have sleep disorders. Lack of sleep worsens chronic pain and creates a cycle of destruction. They are often misdiagnosed, misunderstood, abandoned, or dismissed, and are at high risk for suicide.
Suicidal thoughts are not uncommon for chronic pain sufferers. However, we cannot know what others are thinking. It is an invisible epidemic affecting a fellow employee, neighbor, plumber, close friend, or family member. Their thoughts, words, actions, and reactions can greatly affect not only their lives but the lives of every person in their circle. Those with chronic pain tend to be more prone to emotional imbalance or outbursts, dietary challenges, mobility or joint disorders, hypersensitivity, chronic fatigue, and a smorgasbord of associated symptoms. These complications put chronic pain sufferers at high risk for suicide.
The Hidden Crisis: Chronic Pain and Suicide Risk
If you or your loved one is struggling with chronic pain, it’s important to know the facts. Chronic pain is rising globally. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide experience chronic pain, and more than half are over age 65. This represents approximately 20% of the global population, and nearly one in three of these people reports suicidal thoughts. It’s vital that we look at this silent epidemic.
Across the miles in London, Bill, a father with fibromyalgia, hugs his toddlers as they jump on his lap. He asks them to be gentle while he arranges a simple table game. Each day, Bill endures depression, suicidal thoughts, and chronic pain. His wife, Lilly, returns home from work, kisses Bill’s forehead, showers, and prays alone. She breathes deeply while doing yoga and asks for divine help for her family. Soon, she is refreshed, playing with the children, and giving Bill a much-needed break. As Bill watches, he sees how they are each a joy warrior, creating a loving home together.
Depression, guilt, grief, and shame are common among those in chronic pain. A 2023 study of over 3.3 million people with chronic pain found that 28.9% have had suicidal thoughts. 10.8% have attempted suicide. Another 25.9% reported suicidal ideation in the past two weeks. These numbers may be even higher, as many people keep these feelings hidden. Yet, many discover the quiet power of using pain as a pathway to joy. These are joy warriors.
I relate to this struggle, having lived with chronic pain since childhood and knowing the grief of losing family members to suicide related to pain. For some, suicide may feel like the only escape. Yet, healthy, safe practices do exist for managing chronic pain and supporting well-being. What doesn’t work is trying to be happy when we are in pain. We must fully face and embrace the pain. We can do this through holistic practices.
What Works for Chronic Pain? Holistic Healing!
Medications are commonly used to treat chronic pain. However, drugs only alleviate symptoms, not underlying causes. The holistic health model treats the whole person—body, emotions, mind, spirit, and social contexts. Many joy warriors find holistic health practices, such as those listed below, to be highly safe, effective, and efficient in managing and planning our chronic “pain-to-gain” journey.
Holistic Health Practices for Managing Chronic Pain
- Mind-body therapies: meditation, yoga, tai chi, breathwork
- Expressive arts: music, movement, visual art, dramatic arts, spoken word, and creative writing to safely release and express pain
- Manual therapies: acupuncture, massage, chiropractic care, physical therapy, water therapy
- Lifestyle interventions: anti-inflammatory nutrition, sleep hygiene, nature connection, hot and cold therapy
- Psychological support: ACT, CBT, trauma-informed therapy, peer support, counseling, and coaching
What is Neuroplasticity? How Does it Help?
Some of us living with chronic pain or chronic illness have been told that we “just have to live with it.” However, neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt. The brain can rewire itself, reorganize, and enable recovery from damage. Neuroplasticity enhances our capacity for learning, allowing us to adapt and respond efficiently to injury or traumatic changes in our bodies or in our environment. We can do this through positive affirmations, reframing, contemplation, spiritual exercises, and visualizations.
I’ve experienced multiple traumatic brain injuries, each followed by periods of relearning how to speak, walk, and move. Some recoveries lasted months; others stretched into years. Each time, I returned to the rhythm of healing through positive affirmations, physical therapy, storytelling, creative writing, art, and a supportive community. My daily self-talk and affirmations strengthen and heal neural pathways and weaken harmful ones. Through neuroplasticity exercises, my body and brain continue to adapt, respond, and spark recovery.
Community and Family Rituals
Community support, friendship, family, and a trusted relationship with a therapist, counselor, or practitioner have been instrumental in my healing and continued wellness. Knowing that I am not alone and cared for is vital. Social support is essential for longevity in healing chronic illness and mental wellness. Those who do not have a supportive community and feel alone in their wellness journey are at higher risk for suicide.
If you are facing chronic pain or supporting someone who is, I encourage you to take a step today. Reach out for support from friends, family, or trusted professionals, explore holistic practices, and share your story. Join fellow joy warriors in the ongoing journey from pain-to-gain. Attend community events online or in-person. Begin creating your community and your family with those you trust. If you have been living in isolation for many years, take small steps to connect with others. Your actions matter, and together we can shift and uplift. You can shine your light as a beacon of hope and healing for others.
How Do We Become Joy Warriors? What is Their Secret?
The joy warriors are all around us. Join them. They are beacons of light in our world. We recognize them by their infectious smile, the sparkle in their eyes, and the soothing sounds of their voices.
In my more than seventy years on this planet, I’ve met thousands of joy warriors managing chronic illness and chronic pain: people who are blind, deaf, mobility-challenged, depressed, traumatized, and those who have lost everything they own through natural disasters or unexpected, tragic circumstances.
Many have faced multiple traumas and miraculously survived, and yet they remain grateful and joyful, basking in the Light of Divine love. I’m inspired by these joy warriors. How do they do it? They choose and use their transformational positive power and lean on a supportive community to shift and uplift themselves from the devastation of chronic pain.
Choosing and Using Positive Power
So, must we suffer to find joy? No. Joy warriors do not intentionally suffer, nor do they discount the advice of trusted physicians, practitioners, or counselors, nor do they avoid help from kind, caring friends. They embrace self-care, self-love, self-confidence, and self-responsibility.
Glenn is one of the invisible joy warriors. He wakes up each day, mucks out the stalls, feeds the horses, pigs, and chickens, and then works at the local market. He is a cheerful soul, but Glen has been living in a homeless shelter for three months. After his mother died, he was grateful for his steady job at the neighboring farm and market, but the chronic pain from grief and loss never left his heart. Yet Glen has found joy through daily journaling and his weekly grief support group. He created a pain-to-gain plan and is managing grief and loss with the support of his community.
Joy warriors listen to their bodies, feelings, friends, and inner guidance. Then they take action. You are limitless in your potential. It’s time to embrace the joy warrior in you.
Planning Your Pain-to-Gain Journey
Choosing a holistic approach to joy can include daily exercises—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual practices—that speak to you. I encourage you to seek integrative care and advocate for your “pain-to-gain” journey and choose practices that help bring whole body balance.
Are you ready to embrace your inner joy warrior? Here is your first assignment: Set a timer on your phone or computer to ring on the hour. Every hour, stop and look around you. No matter what the situation is, give thanks for something in your life.
Conclusion & Call to Compassion
Chronic pain is not just a physical condition—it’s a soul experience. You do not have a soul. You are Soul, a limitless spiritual being in a physical body with emotional, psychological, and sociological levels of healing. Healing on multiple levels is possible, even if a cure is not. Always remember that thoughts of suicide are a normal biopsychosocial response. We listen and acknowledge the pain, thank our bodies, and move forward with the help of a supportive community, therapist, coach, counselor, or friend. When we face and embrace chronic pain, we begin the pain-to-gain journey to success.
You are not your pain. You are the pulse beneath it. You are the brave and brilliant joy warrior, resilient and ready to fight for life. I applaud and appreciate you.
References
- https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1217299/full
- https://www.cdc.gov/disability-and-health/articles-documents/mental-health-of-people-with-disabilities.html
- https://www.bjaed.org/article/S2058-5349%2823%2900078-1/fulltext
About Jean Voice Dart
Jean Voice Dart, M.S., RMT, is a multiple international best-selling author, expressive arts psychotherapist, coach, and teacher who navigated through grief, trauma, and chronic pain, upleveling her life from stressed to blessed. She has witnessed a lifetime of miraculous transformations, helping others feel, reveal, and heal through the arts. Jean is the host of the Wellness Universe’s “Take My Hand Support Series.” Those working with Jean spark creative flow, fine-tune skills, and gain effective strategies to manage life challenges through the expressive arts (art, music, writing, movement, and drama). She currently lives near the Pacific Ocean with her husband, Matt, and their dog, Pumpkin.
Connect with Jean on The Wellness Universe and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
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Jean Voice Dart is a Certified Expressive Arts and Grief and Trauma Coach (CCF), Credentialed Expressive and Performing Arts Teacher (MS), Registered Music Therapist (RMT), and Master Level Energetic Teacher. Those working with Jean identify, embrace, and release blocked feelings and emotions through the creative, expressive, and performing arts. She has over forty years of experience in private and group sessions, helping people triumph over physical, mental, or emotional challenges.
Beautifully written, Jean. Your message touched my heart. “You are not your pain. You are the pulse beneath it.” What a profound reminder that even in the midst of suffering, there is strength, light, and hope within us. I love how you honor the “joy warriors” who choose love and connection each day despite their challenges. Thank you, Jean, for sharing such a compassionate and empowering perspective and hosting the Take My Hand series, which benefits so many souls.