Almost 3 years ago I hurt my back while doing exercies in the gym. As both my father and grandfather have had serious back issues, I was really scared. Since t

Almost 3 years ago I hurt my back while doing exercies in the gym. As both my father and grandfather have had serious back issues, I was really scared. Since then I have had somewhat constant pain but it is finally gettting better now. However my girlfriend (who is an physician) made me realise that "you are not your back pain" (which is pretty much what you OP also realised). I could get really sad and angry over the pain instead of finding ways to deal with it. I've become better at dealing with it and doing excersies daily. I think that the easiest way to try to understand what is like to live with chronic pain is to imaigne yourself having tooth ache which never disappears, because mostly everyone has had tooth ache and that really sucks. It nags you and is always around you. Constant in your head, reminding you about its presence.