Exploring the Meanings of Pain: My Pain Story

Abstract

First-person narratives of the lived experience of pain, and the meanings of that experience, are uncommon, especially from persons who are not also clinicians or researchers. Yet such narratives could be particularly useful in understanding pain. First-person accounts, stories of pain, can lend unique insights into the lived experience of pain, how individuals make meaning of it, how they come to those meanings, and how those meanings can change over time. Such narratives could lead to new areas of inquiry and explorations of new possible treatment paths. This chapter provides such a narrative, offering a glimpse into one person’s lived experience of pain and its meanings. It demonstrates how our individual narratives, our stories, help us make sense of our experiences, including pain. It demonstrates how our narratives can change over time as new information and understandings lead to new meanings, and how such changing narratives and meanings can be a part of a therapeutic process that can lead to better outcomes for patients and clinicians alike. Clinical Implications: This chapter provides a first-person account of the lived experience of pain and recovery. It explores the meanings of pain, how they came to be, and how those meanings change over the course of time, from early onset of pain through worsening, unexplained pain to recovery from pain.