What's the point of pain? | 91TV
Transcript
- I talk about the volume of pain.
- There are times when it's so intense,
- when the volume is so high,
- that I just wish somebody would come along
- and unzip my body and just take it away.
- Humankind has constantly tried to define pain.
- It isn't easy.
- Most of the pains that we feel are day-to-day.
- And they do resolve.
- They're part of our body's protection -
- making us rest and protect the area
- and make sure it doesn't get infected if it's a wound.
- And so day-to-day pain may be kind of annoying,
- but it is really important.
- A life without pain would be very dangerous and life-threatening.
- So if I were to tell you
- how my pain is at the moment,
- it actually feels today
- as if someone has tried to put a wetsuit on me.
- But this wetsuit is just covered in tiny tacks
- that are really, really sharp.
- And they're pulling on this wetsuit all the time.
- It also feels as if there are people with drills
- on the soles of my feet,
- and there are lots and lots and lots of people,
- and they're just drilling into my feet.
- And my legs feel really tight,
- as if someone's got giant hands
- that are just really, really squeezing.
- So neuropathic pain is really intense.
- It's experienced as almost real events,
- like being pinched and squeezed,
- very severe, what feel like electrical pulses.
- And clinical experts in pain are able to right away identify
- neuropathic pain because of these awful descriptors.
- The last kind of pain, the third kind of pain,
- is really the mystery.
- And that is the existence of pain
- for which there is no obvious origin.
- So that does not in any way mean that it isn't real.
- It's 100% real.
- It's just that our understanding of our bodies is limited
- at the moment, and you can't find an injury.
- So, we're left with a population of people who are really suffering
- from pain, and it interferes with their life,
- but we don't understand where it comes from.
- Pain itself is a hidden disability.
- And I think it's really difficult to get that across,
- because you can't see somebody else's pain.
- I suppose in every walk of life, if you feel understood,
- that's half the battle.
- And I think that journey of trying to explain yourself
- is a really hard one.
- It's absolutely exhausting.
- When you don't feel believed,
- it has such a massive effect on your mental wellbeing
- that living with that pressure,
- it's almost just as hard as the pain.
- And, well, why should people understand
- if they haven't experienced it?
- But also there is the word compassion,
- and you're hoping that there might be more compassion around.
- I think the outstanding mystery
- is why is it
- that a substantial number of our population
- are suffering from pain without any obvious biological purpose?
- I'm not sure that in my lifetime
- there's going to be a magic potion
- that suddenly will take all the pain away.
- But I think the more that we all talk about it,
- that's where I feel hopeful.
- That's where I can do my little bit.
- That's the optimistic bit.
- As for where all the nails and the screwdrivers
- and the drills in my feet will go, I don't know.
- But I have to believe that I will find my way forward.
We all know what pain is. But why does it exist? And what's it like to live with chronic pain?
Made in partnership with @bbcideas
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