But the only thing that really works for chronic pain is additional support. I mean, if someone is experiencing a flare-up of RA or their physical limits prevent full time employment it's not like oatmeal cookies are going to do the shopping and pay the bills. From a mental health perspective, how long is that support system supposed to last if the person experiencing chronic pain isn't able to reciprocate?

And that doesn't even address the logistics of who cleans the kitchen after making those oatmeal biscuits. Are people in pain supposed to just turn their family into servants? The alternative is to allow life to shrink down to levels that can be managed (if possible), but that is considered "poor coping".