Cognitive defusion is a psychological technique that helps a person separate themselves from their thoughts. In simple terms, it is when you learn to view your thoughts from the outside, like clouds in the sky or words on a screen, rather than as absolute truth. In the case of phantom pain, anxious thoughts such as “This pain will always be there,” “I won’t be able to live normally,” or “My life is over” often arise. Such thoughts only intensify pain and suffering.
Cognitive diffusion helps to:
– Recognize these difficult thoughts as just “thoughts” and not as absolute truth.
– Give yourself space between the thought and the emotional reaction.
– Reduce anxiety and, as a result, reduce the intensity of the pain. In simple terms: a person learns to think like this: “I have a thought that the pain will not go away, but it is only a thought. I don’t have to believe it completely.”
– And this really helps to become calmer and endure pain more easily.