Archives for October 2015

Pendulums and Painkillers

Carl Jung once remarked, “The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.” When I think about the nation’s patchwork quilt policy toward opioids, I’m reminded of how right he was. In my book “The Painful Truth,” I devoted some space to outline a brief history of opioids, and the sensical and nonsensical polices adopted by government and payers.

Our current path of understanding has been littered with good intentions and unintended consequences. While we’re better off with what we’ve learned about opioids today, we still have a long way to go to address the unfortunate side effects of opioid policy in America.

Confronting Mental Illness and Guns: What Should We Do?

In my column in Pain Medicine News this month, I talked about a tragic dual suicide attempt of a married couple I knew, both of whom suffered from chronic pain. From one standpoint, a story like this is as shocking as it is incomprehensible. From another perspective, it’s becoming another sad milepost in society–not unlike the rash of gun rampages of the last few years.

The blithe acceptance of social dysfunction – whether suicide stemming from chronic pain or gun violence – is enormously disturbing to me. When social problems seem too big to solve, human beings tend to be resigned that it is part of life in our culture.

Fighting Chronic Pain as a Teenager

Chronic pain is almost always life altering, but it can be an especially difficult adjustment when it impacts someone whose life is just beginning. Ali Goldsmith was 14 when she started to feel the effects of chronic pain. After surgery to remove bunions, her pain worsened when her doctor struggled to take out the pins that had stabilized her feet during the healing process. In the following months, her legs and feet became increasingly sensitive, so much so that a slight gust of wind could set off spasms of pain.