Search

This study explores pain among female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) with disabilities. Women with disabilities are subject to higher rates of IPV than nondisabled women, and experience health problems related to abuse, including chronic pain. Resident records (N = 114) from a disability-focused domestic violence shelter were reviewed to examine relationships between demographic characteristics, histories of abuse, and pain characteristics including pain severity rating, pain's impact on daily functioning, and cause of pain. Results suggest that pain impacts the daily functioning of IPV survivors with disabilities. Close to 60% had a physical disability and almost half had a psychiatric diagnosis; residents were racially and ethnically diverse, with 41% identifying as Black and 40% Latinx. Residents, on average, rated their pain severity close to 5 (on a 0-10 scale; SD = 2.71), with half indicating that pain affecting their activities of daily living (50.0%). Residents reporting difficulty participating in life roles had significantly higher pain ratings than those who did not, as did those who reported that pain affected their daily functioning. The type of abuse experienced may also influence pain severity, and disability type is related to how pain impacts daily functioning. The study's findings underscore the need for trauma-sensitive approaches to pain management for IPV survivors with disabilities. Given the complex interrelationships between pain severity, physical and mental health, and abuse, an interdisciplinary approach to working with IPV survivors with disabilities is warranted., Author(s): Michelle S. Ballan [sup.1] , Molly Freyer [sup.1] , Meghan Romanelli [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.36425.36, 0000 0001 2216 9681, Stony Brook School of Social Welfare, Stony Brook University [...]

Recognition is vital for conflict resolution. This study was designed to learn more about the factors underlying the willingness to recognize the pain and suffering of the opponent in the asymmetrical protracted conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Data were collected through a public opinion survey conducted with a representative sample of Israeli-Jewish adults (N = 511). Perceptions of threat/distrust toward Palestinians and dehumanization of Palestinians each made a significant contribution to explaining Jewish-Israeli (un)willingness to recognize Palestinian pain and suffering (R2 = .36). Hawkishness made an added significant contribution to the overall explanatory power of the model (R2 = .38). Higher scores on the threat/ distrust scale and the dehumanization scale, as well as higher hawkishness predicted decreased willingness to recognize Palestinian pain and suffering. The implications of our findings for understanding the role of recognition and of moral concern in conflict resolution are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines Harriet Martineau's identification of the invalid with impersonality: the invalid is able to regard all persons as equally valuable, all suffering as of equivalent weight, and hence the pain she feels as of no greater or lesser consequence than that experienced by anyone else. Working with a radical version of Hartleyan psychology, Martineau insists on the extent to which all sensation--but especially painful sensation--has the potential to be attached to new associations, experiences, or beliefs. As a result, the sufferer from pain emerges in her account as the ideal legislator, albeit one who is prohibited by her condition from acting in the world., 'Are you in pain, dear mother?' 'I think there's a pain somewhere in the room,' said Mrs. Gradgrind, 'but I couldn't positively say that I have got it.' Charles Dickens, [...]

Byline: Sungur. Ulas, Sibel. Eyigor, Ismail. Caramat Context: While the survival of cancer patients is prolonged due to the development of new treatment strategies and advancing technologies, the prevalence of [...]

Although discussion of social pain has become popular among researchers in psychology and behavioural neuroscience, the philosophical community has yet to pay it any direct attention. Social pain is characterized as the emotional reaction to the perception of the loss or devaluation of desired relationships. These are argued to comprise a pain type and are explicitly intended to include the everyday sub-types grief, jealousy, heartbreak, rejection, and hurt feelings. Social pain is accordingly posited as a nested type of pain encompassing multiple emotional sub-types. Call this the social pain posit. This article focuses on whether we should endorse the social pain posit and, in particular, whether social pain is pain. I present the four lines of evidence for the social pain posit that are currently offered in the literature and I argue that each provides only inadequate support, taken either individually or together. I close by considering the significance of the presented argument for philosophical theorizing about the nature and the moral significance of affective experiences in particular and mental taxonomizing more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the books "La Soirée avec Monsieur Teste," by Paul Valéry and "Aucun de nous ne reviendra," by Charlotte Delbo is presented. Topics discussed include the self encounters on painful experiences, the intellectual experiment on the power of pain, and the study of the unselfing phenomena which covers self-loss and self-transcendence.

The article discusses the study on the pain experienced by nine offenders subjected to suspended sentence orders in England and Wales.

Background Little information exists regarding whether psychosocial variables in irritable bowel syndrome ( IBS) vary by geographic location. Adult attachment is an important psychological concept rooted in childhood relationship experience that has not been previously studied in IBS. Catastrophizing and negative pain beliefs have been described in IBS and may be affected by attachment. Aims: In this cross-cultural study, we determined: (i) whether attachment differs between IBS patients and controls, (ii) whether geographic location has a significant effect on attachment style, catastrophizing and negative pain beliefs, and (iii) how all three variables correlate with IBS symptom severity. Methods 463 IBS patients, with moderate to severe symptom scores, and 192 healthy controls completed validated questionnaires about attachment, catastrophizing, negative pain beliefs and IBS- SSS in nine locations, USA (New York, Los Angeles), Mexico, Italy (Rome, Bari), Romania, Iran, India, and China. Key Results Attachment anxiety and avoidance scores were significantly higher in IBS patients than in controls ( p < 0.001). This was particularly true for the fearful-avoidant attachment category, especially in China and Romania. Path analysis showed that attachment anxiety and avoidance had indirect effects on IBS- SSS through catastrophizing ( p < 0.0001) and negative pain beliefs ( p = 0.005). All three psychosocial measures varied significantly depending on location. Conclusions & Inferences In the IBS population studied, attachment style was significantly different in IBS compared to a control population. Geographic differences in attachment, catastrophizing and negative pain beliefs were documented and their correlation with symptom severity and thus, research of psychosocial variables in IBS should take into account the location of the population studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not just a legal category, a stamp, or a government-issued document, citizenship in the age of twenty-first-century globalization is increasingly being thought of and studied as an embodied act, a [...]

We employed the relational turbulence model to identify (a) relationship characteristics associated with people's appraisals of hurtful messages, and (b) features of hurtful episodes and relationship characteristics that correspond with the directness of communication about hurt. We conducted a study in which 135 dating couples reported on their relationship once per week for 6 weeks. Relational uncertainty and interference from partners were positively associated with (a) the intensity of hurt, (b) appraisals of the intentionality of hurt, and (c) perceived damage to the relationship. Features of the hurtful episode were more proximal predictors of the directness of communication about hurt than characteristics of the relationship. We discuss how our findings shed light on the relational turbulence model and hurtful communication. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01364.x

There is evidence that social pain or 'hurt feelings' and physical pain share the same neural system. Although researchers have found that a physical pain reliever can reduce social pain, studies suggest that sex differences may influence these findings. Our results indicate that women who took ibuprofen felt less hurt or social pain when they were excluded from a game and when they relived a painful experience than did women who took a placebo. Men who took the pain reliever, by contrast, felt more hurt in both situations than did those who took the placebo. Further, the sex difference revealed in men's and women's ratings of their social pain was reflected in their open-ended verbal descriptions of social and physical pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which the gender differences in response to the cold pressor test (CPT) are mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. One hundred twelve college undergraduates (69 women and 43 men) engaged in CPT and completed self-report measures of demographic information, physical self-efficacy (i.e., expectations about one's overall physical capabilities), and task-specific self-efficacy (i.e., beliefs about one's ability to cope successfully with the upcoming CPT). In addition, participants provided subjective ratings of pain intensity every 30 s during CPT and were evaluated for tolerance during CPT (up to 4 mm). Consistent with past research, men reported lower average subjective ratings of pain intensity and showed higher tolerance for CPT. Path analyses indicated that associations between gender and pain perception were fully mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. Men reported greater physical self-efficacy and task-specific self-efficacy than women did. In turn, higher tas k-specific self-efficacy ratings predicted increases in tolerance for pain and lower ratings of average pain intensity. Findings indicate that self-efficacy beliefs are one factor that accounts for gender differences in responses to painful stimulation. Future researchers should evaluate conditions under which heightened self-efficacy may be beneficial and harmful, and they should employ experimental designs that incorporate opportunities for use of both communal-interpersonal and individualistic coping strategies in light of possible gender differences in preferred approaches to coping with pain. KEY WORDS: gender; self-efficacy; pain perception.

The experience of pain appears to be associated, from early infancy and across pain stimuli, with a consistent facial expression in humans. A social function is proposed for this: the communication of pain and the need for help to observers, to whom information about danger is of value, and who may provide help within a kin or cooperative relationship. Some commentators have asserted that the evidence is insufficient to account for the consistency of the face, as judged by technical means or in the perceptions of observers, or that facial expression is epiphenomenal to a gross behavioural defensive response to pain. The major criticism is that it is unnecessary to invoke evolutionary mechanisms beyond the emergence of an unconditioned facial response to pain in neonates, subsequently shaped and maintained by instrumental and social reinforcement throughout life. These criticisms are addressed, acknowledging the need for further data to address some, and elaborating the areas in which evolutionary and operant mechanisms would predict different behavioural interactions, rather than acting synergistically. Several supportive commentaries propose extending evolutionarily-based hypotheses to sex differences, the complexities of others' responses within the social relationship, and the role of empathy. A number of commentators provided valuable suggestions for experimental paradigms or methodological issues. Overall, addressing these issues indicates the need for further conceptual development and for collection of data specifically in relation to these hypotheses.

An essay is presented which discusses the social aspects of women's health, with a particular focus on the health of the female genitalia. The role that vulva pain putatively plays in representing the refusal of heterosexual penile-vaginal intercourse, including the opportunity it allegedly gives women to evaluate the sexual desires of their male partner, is discussed.

Byline: David B. Resnik (1), Marsha Rehm (2) Keywords: cultural aspects; medicine; pain; philosophy; science; undertreatment Abstract: This essay provides an explanation and interpretation of the under treatment of pain by discussing some of the scientific, clinical, cultural, and philosophical aspects of this problem. One reason why pain continues to be a problem for medicine is that pain does not conform to the scientific approach to health and disease, a philosophy adopted by most health care professionals. Pain does not fit this philosophical perspective because (1) pain is subjective, not objective (2) the causal basis of pain is often poorly understood (3) pain is often regarded as a 'mere' symptom, not as a disease (4) there often are no 'magic bullets' for pain (5) pain does not fit the expert knowledge model. In order for health care professionals to do a better job of treating pain, some changes need to occur in medical philosophy,education, and practice. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Medical Humanities, Brody School of Medicine, 2S-17 Brody Building, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858-4354, USA (2) Oncology Patient Care Facilitator, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, NC Article History: Registration Date: 08/10/2004 Article note: This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.

A Pirandellian approach, Luigi Pirandello's theory that life is in constant flux, ambiguous, and intangible, is applied to people's narratives of illness. The author analyzes the language usage of Sicilian-Canadians when discussing pain and suffering, particularly the use of the word 'nerves,' maintaining their narratives give meaning to their experiences.

The article discusses cultural and ethical aspects of pain, and examines their influence on pain management in the U.S. Changes in cultural and medical attitudes towards pain are commented on, and the problem of imprecise methods for measuring pain is examined along with the author's experiences relieving pain as an anesthesiologist. Conflict between doctors and patients, and between doctors and government agencies which regulate narcotics, regarding the issue of pain management is also commented on.

Pain, despite being an elemental bodily experience and the most common reason for seeking medical care, occupies a place of profound ontological and moral uncertainty in U.S. biomedicine. Taking seriously the highly charged emotions-frustration, anger, even disgust-frequently expressed by clinicians regarding their patients with pain, this article draws on ethnographic research to explore both the origins and the implications of such anxiously ambivalent responses to pain and pain medications among the clinicians charged with treating it. Set against the recent history of pain medicine as an emergent specialty in the highly fragmented landscape of U.S. biomedicine, we examine at close ethnographic range some of the key ways that U.S. clinicians frame the experience of contending with pain in their everyday practice. Emergent from these clinician experiences are the ways in which pain and pain medications remain both incompletely medicalized and ineffectively medicalizing in U.S. biomedicine, as well as the threatening effects on what we call the pharmaceutical subjectivity of clinicians themselves of this persistently ambivalent medicalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article surveys medieval attitudes to the pain of others-the pain of religious martyrdom, of illness, and of torture-in terms of the possibility of empathy with the sufferer on the part of the observer or the person inflicting the pain. It demonstrates that emotional recognition of the pain of the other depended on the status of that other, in social, racial, moral/religious, or gender terms-no sympathy, for example, was to be accorded to the sinners in hell or suspected criminals under torture. Within the medical sphere, a healer's over-identification with the patient was regarded as conducive to an unscientific bias in the healer's mind and to distorting his judgment. The dependence of participative emotion on the status of the sufferer is a comment that medieval history makes on modern times: The pain of the other may be intellectually apprehended, but empathy varies according to the manner in which we see the sufferer. Conversely, distancing the sufferer morally or racially from oneself is an apt way of (and a justification for) preempting the interference of sympathetic response with the efficiency of the perpetrator's or a bystander's agenda. The key to efficient (albeit emotionally neutral) treatment resided in respect for the patient's status, not in an emotional response to his/her suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reflection on the diagnostic approach of general practitioners when facing patients with backache in France. Topics include the psychological dimension of backache, the reluctance of physicians to diagnose a chronic disease in the case of backache, and the challenges of social recognition involved in nosological categorization.

In the Eurowest pain is discursively framed as something that eludes discourse and therefore is outside language. In this framing, pain, as outside language, is given a social and a historical status understood to be beyond human construction. This article is the first step in a larger project toward destablizing such a conceptualization of pain and begins by engaging feminist theorizing of body and pain. In this paper my effort is to trouble the way we think about the body and pain in the Eurowest and to examine some of the outcomes of such thinking. Thereafter, I propose a conceptualization of the body and pain that might be helpful for examining their discursive formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In strong contrast to the powerful biological-utilitarian thought of his era, Nietzsche chastises those striving to conquer human suffering. This article suggests that Nietzsche's examination of modern attitudes toward pain is inextricably bound to the scientific, cultural, and popular reappraisal of pain in the late 19th century. It examines two of Nietzsche's main strategies to refute ideological enemies, such as proponents of philosophical Pessimism or advocates of progressivist science who convene in taking stock of pain to determine the value of life. These strategies are a) Nietzsche's emphasis on heroic pain as a way of describing pain as indispensable and truly humanizing factor, b) Nietzsche's epistemological critique that discredits the entire veracity of human feeling, including pain. The article also examines the crucial influence of Léon Dumont's Vergnügen und Schmerz on Nietzsche's physiological thought on pain as well as for the philosophy of the ‚will to power' which can be read as Nietzsche's timely contribution to a new doctrine of pain after the demise of the Christian "Heils-Maschinerie." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of sociologists have adopted the notion of the embodied subject to escape the trappings of the rational choice theory in sociological analysis. From a phenomenological perspective, the notion of an embodied subject refers to a subject who is in unity with the world. In this paper, I will present my ethnographic study of a group of trainee dancers preparing to embody the world of modern dance. I will present my study of their training experiences as a case of subjects striving to embody a world other than the one they already embody. I observed that pain formed the core part of trainee dancers' daily experiences. Following Leder's theory of the 'absent body' and Bourdieu's conception of the 'modern social world', I interpreted trainee dancers' experiences of pain with respect to the historically shaped collective expectations of the world of modern dance. I argue that their experiences of pain indicate how far along they are in the process of their embodiment of the world of modern dance. As they experience a decrease in the intensity of pain during their training, trainees become closer to embodying the world of modern dance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study design:A postal survey.Objective:To ascertain the incidence of pain in individuals with paraplegia in India and to associate it with demographic characteristics.Setting:India.Method:The study was done by means of a questionnaire. This questionnaire was mailed to the identified individuals (n=600) on the addresses obtained from the medical records section of hospitals and from various organizations. Data analysis was done by using non-parametric tests of association.Results:The return rate was 46% (276/600). Fifty-seven percent of individuals complained of pain. Of this, pain in the back and chest ranked the highest (30.1%), followed by pain below the level of lesion (6.9%), pain in the shoulder and upper limb (4.7%) and neck (0.4%). Fifteen percent of individuals complained of pain at multiple sites. We found a significant association of pain with age, duration since injury and ambulation.Conclusion:More than half of the subjects complained of pain in the study. Pain was found to be associated with age, duration since injury and ambulation. As pain has a dramatic effect on a subjects' quality of life, there is a need to evaluate it in detail and treat accordingly with preventive, rehabilitative or surgical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Chronic or recurrent nonmalignant pain is a significant problem for many children and adolescents and often limits the child's participation in normal physical, academic, and social activities. Objective. To better understand the impact of chronic or recurrent pain on children within the context of their own lives and experiences, using qualitative analysis, and to suggest the applications of the narrative method to clinical practice. Design. Grounded theory and narrative analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted at baseline and 6–12 months following clinic intake. Setting. Subject homes. Patients. Fifty-three children ages 10–17 presenting with recurrent pain to a university-based pain clinic. This sample did not differ significantly from the overall clinic population during the study period. Results. Five common themes were identified; these suggested that isolation, changed self-perception, activity limitations, concerns about barriers to future goals, and lack of medical validation were important to the children's perceived impact of pain on their lives. Five narratives were identified, each of which provided a coherent, integrated description of the factors and perspectives presented by a specific subset of children at baseline. These narratives were then compared against the children's reports of improvement in pain and functioning at 6–12 months; from this comparison, a sixth narrative of therapeutic change emerged for some of the children. Conclusions. The authors suggest that physicians and parents who take the initiative to elicit the child's narrative can help the child to rewrite the story to promote therapeutic change, a better outcome, and higher satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the factors of on-the-job productivity loss among workers with upper extremity disorders (UED). It mentions that 168 patients with UED out of 177 eligible were investigated and asked on the description of the symptoms, personal characteristics and work related factors. It notes that 56% of the patients reported a productivity loss which findings include pain intensity, pain interference with work and fear-avoidance beliefs.

Aim. This paper is a report of a study exploring the impact of neuropathic pain on family, social and working relationships among patients at a pain clinic serving a large urban area. Background. Neuropathic pain is a particularly distressing type of chronic pain which is extremely difficult to manage successfully. It produces a range of unpleasant symptoms and adversely affects patients' quality of life, but little is known about its personal impact. Method. A descriptive and exploratory approach was used and 10 participants participated in three focus groups in 2005. Because of the low response rate of 20% from the initial sample, a second sample of 16 patients was invited to participate. However, only one person responded and therefore it was not possible to convene an additional group. Findings. The unpleasant and bizarre nature of neuropathic pain underpinned much of its impact in terms of respondents' difficulties in maintaining a range of relationships. For closer relationships, key difficulties centred on the reduction in quality and/or number of personal relationships. For more distant relationships and those with professionals, frustration at the invisibility of their pain and their own failure to communicate symptoms and its consequences were central. Conclusion. More extensive work is needed to improve our understanding of how neuropathic pain is experienced, how it affects close and more distant kinds of relationships, and how healthcare professionals might best support people with persistent neuropathic pain to maintain personal and social relationships, and to communicate their pain effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the ethical turn taken by the feminist theory in a globalized world wherein structural injustices, flows of migration, and perennial warfare exist. It presents the author's insights about the debates on ethical values as well as on transformative or affirmative ethics, an assumption she drew from poststructuralist philosophies. It discusses the question of pain and vulnerability, the pursuit of affirmative values, as well as the question of otherness in transformative ethics. Moreover, it defines the value of ethical good, affirmative ethics, and other key concepts.

Background. Pain is poorly understood on a population level. This study provides updated estimates of the prevalence, location, severity, and impact of pain in a U.S. community and discusses current definitions of “chronic” pain. Outcome Measures. We mailed four-page surveys to a random sample of 5,897 adult residents of Olmsted County, MN. The survey asked about participant pain (location, duration, severity, and impact), as well as satisfaction with pain-related health care. Results. Of the 3,575 responders (61%), 64.4% reported having chronic pain (>3 months’ duration); 6.9% reported subacute pain (1–3 months); and 9.9% reported acute pain (<1 month). Body regions with the highest prevalence of pain were the head (31.9%), lower back (37.7%), and joints (59.5%). Chronic pain sufferers had more days per months with pain, more moderate or severe pain, and greater levels of interference with general activities and sleep than the people with acute and subacute pain. Almost two-thirds of those with chronic pain (63%) reported multiple pain locations. Several chronic pain sufferers gave fair or poor ratings for the quality of care (13.3% of those rating) or the effectiveness of treatment (28.1%) for pain. Conclusions. The prevalence of chronic pain is high, often in more than one location, and over 21% of chronic pain sufferers report dissatisfaction with current care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of pain in a number of ritual performances entailing the construction of characteristic connexions between people and their homelands: the English custom of Perambulation or Beating of the Bounds, the Gisaro ceremony of the Kaluli of Papua New Guinea and the initiation rites of the Australian Aranda. By focusing on the distinctive relational forms acted out in these performances, the author shows how the ritual infliction of suffering at once imbues pre-existing links with land with the immediacy of new, incontestable bodily experiences, and embeds these experiences within a wider network of ties, namely; those presupposed by the pain-inducing relationship enacted in the rituals themselves. Through such recontexualizations, the participants' attachments to the places in which they live are renewed and transformed., Ritual, place and pain The analyses that follow lay particular emphasis on the relational logics ritual brings into play. Specifically, I view ritual performances as the enactment of special types [...]

The locus classicus for explaining the problem of suffering may be located in theories of theodicy, a term which derives from a 1710 text of Leibniz. But whatever the name used, it could be said that all human societies have been concerned with explanations of suffering. While arguments for the `social uses' of suffering assume that it is necessary for the pedagogic function of power in education, society also experiences the arbitrary failure of justice in wars, crimes, and the rational administration of pain in humanly constituted courts of law. Recasting the necessity of pain in pedagogic terms makes it appear to cease being `useless suffering', but such formulations are repeatedly questioned by those who have to submit to the pain. The distinctive contribution of social anthropology to this problem ties in its insistence on everyday fife rather than on metaphysical questions, thus revealing how social institutions are deeply implicated in two opposite modes -- the production of suffering on the one hand, and creating moral communities that could address it. on the other.

The humanitarianism of the 18th century produced a culture of sensibility that redefined pain as uncivilized and revolting. As pain became taboo, it acquired a titillating obscenity. Gothic fiction and popular accounts of murder and punishment sensationalized pain, and sadism became the central focus of English pornography. Even reform literature eroticized pain. Humanitarian efforts to privatize punishment enhanced its pornographic appeal.