You've said that your mental health is suffering because of the pain you're in.

People offering mental health treatment are not saying the pain is "all in your head"[1]. They're saying you deserve treatment for all your problems, not just a focus on one specific pain problem.

We've known for sometime that treatment for mental illness is more effective if it looks at more than the patient's mental illness - if it looks at all the biological, psychological, and social factors.

This concept is moving into physical health treatment, especially for long term pain.

And it seems that mental health treatment can reduce the amount of pain that people feel.

[1] I'm not sure if you realise just how dismissive this sounds. Mental illness is debilitating and one of the top ten causes of years lost to disability. Those people aren't "making it up", which is the implication many will draw from your "all in my head" comment.

That's the thing though... with chronic pain there is no end to the physical pain, and this fact alone can be mentally taxing. Sometimes taking your mind off your situation is more effective than painkillers. Chronic pain is a life long mental _and_ physical battle.

As someone who personally suffers from chronic pain. Trust me, it's not condescending at all.