Getty Images; Everyday Health There’s no denying that for many people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), pain is a part of life. This can be true even when joints aren’t flaring or there are no objective signs that the disease is worsening. Yet how much pain people experience and how they view it is an individual thing. For some, thinking the worst becomes the default. The problem is that this can actually make your rheumatoid condition worse. In a study presented in early June at the annual congress of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR), a forum to present the latest in advancements in rheumatology care, this extreme negative thinking was shown to impact a person’s course of the disease.