The Pain Predicament
During a TV interview, two healthy-looking ladies who were
suffering with pain said their pain management classes taught that it
was best not to show pain {no moaning, groaning or holding body parts}, and not
to talk about pain with others unless saying “no” without explanation would
hurt someone’s feelings or kill the relationship.
Is this pup in pain? A group photo in a magazine's tagline was, “Which person in the
group photo (of smiley-faced people) has chronic pain?” The next line said, “They
all do”, including the pup in the photo. The pain management group photo and Connie-Pup's photo demonstrate that
how we look may not be an accurate way to judge pain.
People who put a smile on their face and do their best in
spite of pain upgrade their own mental health and give their best to the world,
however, pain is a relentless beast that will take them down the minute they
get home. Therein lies the conundrum: doing our best, when our best changes
from one second to the next, and putting on a happy face may result in being misunderstood
and misjudged; not putting on a happy face is social suicide in a world where “can’t” is judged as a sharp-edged “won’t”.
