Patient perspective : My name is Reggie Winston. The medical dream of conquering pain -- The emergence of a right to pain relief -- Chronic pain as a disease -- Looking beyond a biopsychosocial model of pain -- Pain medicine and the medicalization of chronic pain -- Selling opioids as targeted painkillers -- From causal to moral models of pain and the right to pain relief -- Finding a place for pain in medicine, in policy, and in life -- Clinician's perspective : Dr. Clark's tale -- Patient perspective : My name is Reggie Winston.
Summary:
"Pain has always been a problem for Western Society, but not the same kind of problem. Until about 1500, pain was primarily understood as a religious problem. Pain and suffering challenged the truth of religious belief and the legitimacy of the Church: How could a just, merciful, and all-powerful God allow so much pain and suffering in the world? As our society became more secular over the next 300 years, pain came to be understood primarily as a social problem. This modernizing society aimed to create the best environment for human flourishing: How might human society be designed and regulated to reduce the pain and suffering of everyone to the minimum possible? At least since 1900, we have separated pain as a medical problem from the remainder of human suffering. We have aimed to reduce this problem to a minimum through medical treatment. This quest has led us to our opioid epidemic. To fully comprehend the limitations of this medical interpretation, we must appreciate how the medical explanation of pain grew out of earlier religious and social interpretations of pain"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.