One of the main causes of stress in the lives of people is their jobs. Occupational stress is causing a wide range of significant issues in health and community services.
It is recommended that massage, as a valuable noninvasive method, be usedto reduce stress, promote mental health, and prevent the decrease in quality of work life.
The goal of the occupational therapist is not to treat pain per se, but to mobilize patients in an effort to occupy their minds and bodies in purposeful activities.
Massage promotes movement, alters moods and diverts the mind from pain. These processes help the patient with chronic pain by stimulating natural physiological mechanisms in the endocrine system, immune system, and nervous system. .
The occupational therapist can help patients with chronic pain by facilitating natural physiological mechanisms in the mind and body.
Enabling activities, such as stimulation, cognitive distraction, and relaxation techniques facilitate activation of the initial physiological mechanisms that control pain.
The massage therapist can engage the patient in purposeful activities that are of value to the patient. Activities help reduce pain because the patient, when involved, is no longer attending to the pain, therefore, relaxation responses are induced.
It may also be that activities put patients in a pain·free state by eliminating some stimuli such as an inappropriate sitting posture. As patients experience painfree activity, their psychological state improves and their self· confidence increases.