TOTALLY GEEKED!

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

How do you express a particular quantity of pain? These days, if you’re in the hospital, you’re constantly asked to choose 1-10 on a scale of sad to happy faces. Who gets to say what is unbearable?

Pain used to be thought a punishment you could perhaps pray away, unless you accepted it as your due. Some individuals still feel, or consider others, weak, sinful, or morally deficient if they don’t act bravely when in pain. Are you a bad patient if you lose self-control when in pain?

The Story of Pain: From Prayer to Painkillers is by Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London, and the prize-winning author of nine books about everything from modern warfare to rape. Evidently, there’s a lot more to pain than is usually thought, and Bourke is a good guide to this territory.

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Discussing the sympathy of medical professionals, Bourke quotes astonishing historical statements of prejudice in favor of “British pluck” over the moans of suffering foreigners (or Jews or anyone "dark"). In fact, it was thought in the 1930s that “increased sensitivity to pain,” that is, being unwilling to undergo operations without anesthesia, “was a consequence of the ‘enhanced refinement of senses, which has advanced so rapidly during the century.’” Of course, such a belief led to thinking that more “primitive” peoples felt pain less.

Bourke shows how the experience of pain changes as the social world changes. Pain used to be thought a good thing, as suffering was a message from God. Now it’s an evil to be fought, but even now there are times when it’s thought that “too much” pain relief has negative repercussions.

A shocking amount of ignorance about human physiology and psychology existed until fairly recent times. And still, plenty of doctors continue to ignore the reality of what their patients are enduring when they no longer have to.

With its pain-free writing style, The Story of Pain is surprisingly enlightening.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creating-in-flow/201412/do-people-feel-more-pain-today

just Czech · Give Me Grand's!

Why should anyone live in pain if the pain can be relieved?
I don't think people (in general) have more pain, I think we are more aware that we don't have to live in pain. IMHO, that's a good thing.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I don't know. I do think a lot of people turn to pain relievers when they could do something else to relieve pain.

It's easy to pop a pill. It's harder to push through and past pain.

Now, I do not say this lightly. I live with pain. The kind of pain that prescription pain pills do very little to easy. The only other thing I could take to be completely out of pain would require a very serious, very strong pain pil but more than likely I would become catatonic.

I know a woman who went from a vibrant, active woman to a rambling, in coherent patient because of her pain killers. Yes, she was in an enormous amount of pain. The kind of pain that would put a lot of people in the hospital. She had a med delivery system put into her back. She in on a steady drip of pain killers. Because it was easier to take the medicine than go through the therapy.

I think there is a difference between the normal every day pain of a headache or a growing pain and real, life altering pain.

A lot of time, while taking that Tylenol is easy, a little time in some quiet might do the same thing.

huskerbb · Guru

People are wusses, today.

They don't work because of this or that pain. They now call it a disability when in the past people worked in spite of it.

Heck, I know a guy today that works 10-12 hour days or MORE and he can't stand in one place for more than two minutes because of his back pain--and he works a VERY physically demanding job.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

huskerbb wrote:
People are wusses, today.

They don't work because of this or that pain. They now call it a disability when in the past people worked in spite of it.

Heck, I know a guy today that works 10-12 hour days or MORE and he can't stand in one place for more than two minutes because of his back pain--and he works a VERY physically demanding job.

Yes, SOME people ARE.

But I know at least two people who have a valid disability & can't get the official certification.

flan

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

It's kind of like this. MY pain is valid, but yours, well you are just a wussy.

Tinydancer · Guru

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
It's kind of like this. MY pain is valid, but yours, well you are just a wussy.

This is so true...lol.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

I don't doubt people have pain. I also know everyone deals with pain differently.

I cant tell you how many doctors tried to get me to use this or take that and I was offered a parking sticker 4 years ago. I refused because I was going to go until I could not.

I still see people who use the parking places and the carts who probably don't need to.

But at the same time, I am not going to tell someone their pain is less significant than mine.

I do think some jump to medication when there could be other ways of managing the pain.

However I do take a Tramadol every night. Sometimes a couple through out a particularly bad day.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

I don't think people feel more pain now than they used to, I just think people complain more.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Lawyerlady wrote:
I don't think people feel more pain now than they used to, I just think people complain more.

This too.

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Do People Feel More Pain Today?

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