The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering Melanie Thernstrom

In April 2023, a research finding about plants and their sobbing noises when they are injured or dehydrated was circulating on Twitter.¹ "Will plants be 'in pain' if, for instance, their stems are cut? If yes, is it physical or emotional pain?" I asked myself.

Dr. Foell's review of Melanie Thernstrom's book; The Pain Chronicles was an inspiring read about adapting to chronic pain after a physical injury.² By writing about her journey, Thernstrom honored her pain. A question may arise here, "is pain strictly a physical phenomenon?"

Research on the existence and significance of emotional pain has been growing recently.³ Psychological or emotional pain can be defined as "introspective experience of negative emotions such as fear, despair, grief, shame, guilt, blocked love, loneliness and loss."⁴ Emotional pain can accompany mental disorders, for example, depression.⁵ It may also amplify an underlying physical pain.⁴ In the latter case, when the somatic condition is treated, the accompanying emotional pain usually ends.⁵

Mee et al developed the Mee-Bunney Assessment Scale in 2011. This is an instrument that can be used to measure the intensity (from none to unbearable) and frequency (from never to always) of psychological pain in individuals with or without psychiatric conditions.⁶ The higher the score, the more severe the psychological pain is.⁶ In individuals with major depression, greater scores denote a higher suicidal tendency and a higher probability of having had previous suicidal attempts.⁵ But do people hold their psychological pain on a pedestal?

In his book, the Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis states that “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to.”⁷ Attending to emotional pain aligns with the World Health Organization's definition of health; “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing.”⁸ Moreover, understanding and tackling emotional pain is integral to the holistic humanistic approach of family practice that encompasses the psychosocial in addition to the physical aspects of humans.⁹

References
1. Plants May "Scream" Out Loud When stressed. https://twitter.com/ndtvfeed/status/1647499072134164483
2. Jens F. The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering Melanie Thernstrom. Br J Gen Pract 2013, 63 (610):264-265. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp13X667295
3. Biro D. Is There Such a Thing as Psychological Pain? And Why It Matters. Cult Med Psychiatry 2010;  34(4):658–667. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-010-9190-y
4. Mehmet E.D., Hüseyin G., Lut T., et al. Reliability and validity of Mee-Bunney Psychological Pain Assesment Scale Turkish Version. Current Psychology 2020, 39:1181-1188. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00400-z
5. Eliana T. The Concept of Mental Pain. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2013, 82:67–73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000343003
6. Nadia M.W. and Huda G.H. Psychological Pain, Anger Rumination, and Its Relation with Suicidal Ideations among Patients with Major Depressive Disorder. International Egyptian Journal of Nursing Sciences and Research 2022, 3(1):95-116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21608/ejnsr.2022.126424.1161
7. Clive S.L. The Problem of Pain. Québec: Samizdat University Press, 2016, p.57
8. Norman S. The Meanings of Health and its Promotion. Croatian Medical Journal 2006, 47:662-664
9. Mel B. Holistic Medicine in Family Practice. Canadian Family Physician 1984, 30: 101-106.