This article about pain catastrophizing exactly matches my own life experience. So many women in my extended family came into their 40s complaining about aches and pains in their legs. They were relatively active at the time but definitely justified slowing down blaming the pain. So it would be common to see an aunt who had been self-sufficient with most household work, acquire domestic help for chores she had done by herself until then. By the time they were in their 50s the pains had grown much worse, they had gained a lot of weight and become largely sedentary.
One of these ladies now in her 60s spends most of her time laid up in bed. When she is up and about, her gait is ungainly and she struggles to climb up and down the stairs. Exercise is unthinkable, she would be lucky to just be able to walk around the house. When she absolutely must be mobile, she takes pain medications to cope. She used to be a normal 20 and 30 year old once and just by focusing on pain as deeply as she did, by 60 she is where she is. The men in the family complain about their aches and pains too but I have noticed they don't assume they have a choice to change their way of life on account of the pain. So they soldier along best they can and as a result remain more active until a much older age. As the story points out:
how patients think about their pain, rather than the level of experienced pain, had a more powerful impact on their daily physical activity
The women I am referring to were all stay at home wives and mothers. There was no compelling need for them to do anything in particular. There was always help available if needed. When the kids were little they were naturally active chasing around after them. This first signs of pain and consequent slowing down seems to have coincided with the children growing up.
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