Article about pain

[firecat]

I expect this UPI article will be all over my reading list but I have to put in my own pocket change before I even go look.

It's annoying that they are being all gender-essentialist about it, but if they're going to be that way, it's good that they are acknowledging that women feel more pain, because usually women's pain is downplayed and ignored.

But then they manage to downplay it anyway. "Let's treat the emotions." Let's get a woman living with pain to say "it's all about just not caring whether you have pain." And not once is it mentioned that maybe we should believe women who have pain, and give them pain medicines to manage their pain.

"Pain different for women, men"
ATLANTA, Aug. 13 (UPI)
(Full article quoted. Emphasis mine.)

Chronic pain is more intense and
lasts longer for women than men and a higher proportion of women
suffer from diseases that bring such pain, doctors say.
Jennifer Kelly of the Atlanta Center for Behavioral Medicine
in Georgia says women have more recurrent pain and more disabilities
from pain-causing illnesses such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid
arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome, CNN reported Friday.
Hormones could be one reason women bear this burden of pain,
Kelly said, noting the menstrual cycle can be associated with
changes in discomfort among women with chronic pain.
Pain also can have long-lasting consequences, studies show.
Women who suffer menstrual cramps have significant brain structure
changes compared with women who don't, one study found, while other
studies have revealed abnormal brain structure changes in people
with disorders such as chronic back pain and irritable bowel
syndrome.
Women tend to focus on pain on an emotional level, worrying
about how it will affect their responsibilities, whereas men focus
on the sensory aspect, Kelly said, urging doctors to help women deal
with negative thoughts that can make a painful situation worse.
One woman who suffers from arthritic conditions agrees
patients with chronic pain need help changing their mind-set about
pain.
"Part of what helped me was switching out the model in which
I had to be pain free to be happy," Melanie Thernstrom says.
"Realizing I can have some pain, just like it can be raining outside
and I can be happy -- it's all a matter of what level the pain is
at."

Comments

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who has several of the chronic conditions mentioned there, I think both meds and a change in mindset (e.g. via cognitive-behavioural therapy) have a role, and both should be more widely available. I relied mainly on meds for years, but at its worst the pain broke through them, so I had to learn to enjoy life as much as I could despite it - and that stood me in good stead later, when I had to start tapering off the meds because of side effects. If I had my way, medicines would only need a prescription where using them incorrectly has the potential to affect others (as with antibiotics), and therapy would have a much shorter waiting list than it currently does on the NHS in the UK.

[firecat]

I do agree they both have a role. But it angers me that pain meds weren't even mentioned in the article.

[e4q.livejournal.com]

the idea that you can just think yourself better has me reaching for my fictional gun.

just as well we have gun laws here.