The National Pain Report asked our readers this week what their New Year’s resolution would be.

We received a brisk response from many readers, and honestly, many of them reflected the frustration that so many chronic pain patients feel.

Laurie Stetz caught the gist of the frustration when she wrote:

“We need a federal investigation of how this drug war on patients started and what, exactly, was the impetus.

Patients also need to get over their learned helplessness when in a doctor’s office. We are, mostly, very learned about our own conditions and many of us have years of experience with our disabilities. To have to be treated by someone with limited experience or, worse, with a parochial attitude of privilege is maddening when they won’t listen and grow with us. If we don’t know about our condition, we’d better learn…fast.”

Terry Longtin was more optimistic and promises a year of action on behalf of him and other chronic pain patients.

“ My new year’s resolution is as follows: Besides going to the gym I resolve to email my state officials, governor, congressmen and senators and explain the facts and only the facts, short and sweet, 98.8% of ALL opioid overdoses are from heroin and/or fentanyl and 1.2% is from patients with legitimate prescriptions. Then I’ll ask why therefore, chronic pain patients are having their lives literally ruined for no good reason. That’s all they need to know but we must send two emails a week to the same government officials, so we get noticed. You can write one letter one time, then just copy and paste it to every official. That’s my resolution, how about everyone else?

Tom Bowen is a frequent contributor to the National Pain Report who writes frequently about the importance of chronic pain patient to understand pain and take responsibility

I am going to continue work as an advocate for pain education, the biopsychosocial model of pain, interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation, and more self-responsibility.

Here’s a link to Tom’s website.

Linda Cheek is with Doctor of Courage and she says her group is “pledged to get rid of the incumbent legislators that are maintaining the propaganda against opioids (and other drugs) and show everyone that drugs are not the cause of addiction. It is imperative that the chronic pain community gets behind this, or it will be generations before we see change and addiction will skyrocket because of what is really causing it in the first place.”

We’ve asked Linda for more specific about her efforts and will publish them when we hear back.

Also Gordon Heinrichs left us a message that he will be publishing an eBook “The Rise of Natural Therapies, First Do No Harm” in February.

Here’s a link to Gordon’s YouTube presentation.

The year is still young.

Let us know what you plan—and we’ll publish a few of the interesting ideas that might inspire others to follow!

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