Perceptions: Time and Pain

I can't believe another week has passed by. I am sure you have probably already realized this in your own life but since I am often "Master of the Obvious" MOTO...the older you get the faster time seems to pass. I remember as a kid waiting for something like my birthday. The anticipated event could be only a day away yet seemed like several weeks. Now, several weeks seems like a day. I am curious as to why we perceive things in this manner. Perhaps it has something to do with our current knowledge. As we grow into adulthood things are less and less new and become much more mundane and redundant. Or perhaps we are able to focus better on tasks at hand and therefore time gets lost in the background. What are your ideas?

Speaking of perception. Perception is very important in physical therapy. First perceptions of our patients sets the stage for how treatment might go. If we go into an evaluation and the patient perceives us as a therapist lacking confidence and competence our job is generally much harder. Now not only do we have to evaluate and determine a diagnosis and treatment but we have to work harder to gain the patient's trust that we can be effective at doing so because of those first perceptions that we did not have confidence or competence. Or what if the patient perceives his/her pain to be something much more than it is? I think about the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire or the FABQ. It is a survey given to patients to determine the perception of patient's back pain and how it influences their fear and/or avoidance of work. The FABQ has been shown to be predictive of outcomes. So in other words, the patient's perception of his/her pain can influence how well they will do...interesting, right? So part of our job is to help the patient with perceptions. We must educate and dial down fears to change perceptions, a task that is not always very easy. Until next time......