As a source of human suffering, chronic musculoskeletal pain ranks pretty high. Low back pain - just one kind of pain! - is one of the biggest heath problems in the world in terms of medical expense, days missed from work, and economic burden. So it’s strange that we actually don’t talk that much about chronic pain. (At least outside of blogs like this.)
I just wrote a (very long) piece about this. We don't talk about chronic pain, and we certainly don't tell the story of living with severe, daily pain, of intractable pain. Of progresive, painful, incurable disease.
And IF a person with chronic pain is represented in the media, they are invariably presented as an opioid addict, which only adds to the stigma in a patient population who are already extremely vulnerable and extremely stigmatised. OR they are a bludger, trying to game the system.
There is no empathy for severe, daily pain, because the story is never told. No compassion. Just 'You're exagerating, shut up and try harder!'. Without representation, of course healthy people can't understand what it is to live with intractable pain. And you make great points about compassion fatigue, that's definately a thing. (Aren't you better YET???). We live in a world full of toxic positivity traveling at too fast a pace to notice the person who is sick, and struggling with a painful, progressive, incurable disease.
Deadwood had an episode on chronic back pain. It even featured an old west traction board and the usual 'helpful remedies' to cure what ales ya. Great show!
Seinfeld was another one... Actually it's got 2 episodes... The one where Elaine hurts her back and Cramer snaps her neck in exchange for a classic Schwinn (she eventually swims in the east river) and the one where Mr Nagelbaum ends up hospitalized from picking things up wrong.
Oh wait.. 3rd Seinfeld episode! George's mom goes to hospital for a bad back after catching George 'in the act' in The Contest episode...
One of Sarno's ideas was that back pain is a more socially acceptable manifestation of psychological stress and anxiety. I don’t know that I think much of the etiological hypothesis, but I’m not saying there's nothing to it, and the observation of human nature has some value at least.
However, chronic pain is in itself a sign of weakness/vulnerability and somewhat verboten to discuss. Acute pain is fair game! People are happy to talk about that! But there's definitely a stigma against pain, and the longer it goes on without a clear medical explanation and resolution, the stronger it gets — because most people tend to assume that pain only drags on as a kind of melodrama and attention-seeking and/or hypochondria.
Become impatient with the person. This has been one of the most interesting things about practicing Hanna Somatics with my clients - helping them feel understood, gotten, and appreciated for all they do to live with and try to heal chronic pain. Thank you for this piece.
Working with so many people over so many years, I've also experienced the problem with 'invisible pain'. It can be so debilitating, and more so because others come
I just wrote a (very long) piece about this. We don't talk about chronic pain, and we certainly don't tell the story of living with severe, daily pain, of intractable pain. Of progresive, painful, incurable disease.
And IF a person with chronic pain is represented in the media, they are invariably presented as an opioid addict, which only adds to the stigma in a patient population who are already extremely vulnerable and extremely stigmatised. OR they are a bludger, trying to game the system.
There is no empathy for severe, daily pain, because the story is never told. No compassion. Just 'You're exagerating, shut up and try harder!'. Without representation, of course healthy people can't understand what it is to live with intractable pain. And you make great points about compassion fatigue, that's definately a thing. (Aren't you better YET???). We live in a world full of toxic positivity traveling at too fast a pace to notice the person who is sick, and struggling with a painful, progressive, incurable disease.
Thanks for writing this.
Deadwood had an episode on chronic back pain. It even featured an old west traction board and the usual 'helpful remedies' to cure what ales ya. Great show!
Seinfeld was another one... Actually it's got 2 episodes... The one where Elaine hurts her back and Cramer snaps her neck in exchange for a classic Schwinn (she eventually swims in the east river) and the one where Mr Nagelbaum ends up hospitalized from picking things up wrong.
Oh wait.. 3rd Seinfeld episode! George's mom goes to hospital for a bad back after catching George 'in the act' in The Contest episode...
I'm guessing Larry David has back issues now...
One of Sarno's ideas was that back pain is a more socially acceptable manifestation of psychological stress and anxiety. I don’t know that I think much of the etiological hypothesis, but I’m not saying there's nothing to it, and the observation of human nature has some value at least.
However, chronic pain is in itself a sign of weakness/vulnerability and somewhat verboten to discuss. Acute pain is fair game! People are happy to talk about that! But there's definitely a stigma against pain, and the longer it goes on without a clear medical explanation and resolution, the stronger it gets — because most people tend to assume that pain only drags on as a kind of melodrama and attention-seeking and/or hypochondria.
Become impatient with the person. This has been one of the most interesting things about practicing Hanna Somatics with my clients - helping them feel understood, gotten, and appreciated for all they do to live with and try to heal chronic pain. Thank you for this piece.
Great post! It’s also interesting about how often we see it on tv programmes or films and it’s very rare!
Working with so many people over so many years, I've also experienced the problem with 'invisible pain'. It can be so debilitating, and more so because others come