Bc a huge part of pain is the "windup phenomenon" -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_wind-up

Which is heavily related to our mental state such as restlessness and "heedless energy". We will begin to have more and more thoughts going to " wow my pain... wtf wow this is really hurting..." which "take up space" for more rationalized responses like "my pain seems to be winding up, need to lay down, need to take a shower, need to rub some gel etc. etc.

You take that 'zapam and it slows down these thoughts by way of GABA down regulation, in a sense giving your brain " breathing room" (sorry for all the quotes I just don't have time to go into the specifics).

I implore u to check out the wind up phenomenon link above. Our minds cause pain and pain causes an over active mind. This is why chronic pain is susceptible to catastrophizing and "getting worse and worse and I can't keep up" like feeling.

I hope this helps. Totally all over the place with my answer, sorry I just am trying to save u from a term paper... Any questions just ask I've got a lot of experience with this.

Peace 🙏

Are you a subscriber to Stanford Pain's bs? Pain is NOT in your head, hyperalgesia is NOT a real thing, and "catastrophizing" is a dirty word to real chronic pain patients.

I dont know but I’m gonna have to go buy 2 beers