Tag Archives: pain
Why I Won’t Call Pain “Banana”
There is a chronic pain community that discourages people from using the word “pain.” Instead, they encourage members to use the word “banana.” The idea is that replacing a threatening word with something neutral or even silly can help the … Continue reading
Survivors in the Lurch: How Doctors Disregard Their Role in Resolving Medical Trauma
Recently, I heard the same line I’ve been hearing for years. A prominent pain specialist told me that doctors don’t have the time to help me recover from medical PTSD. The conversation always drops straight into the same rut: “Are … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Healthcare
Tagged attunement, Doctor, doctor-patient relationship, doctors, Empathy, IPNB, Medical PTSD, MPTSD, pain, pain specialist, relationship, therapy
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How Repeated Medical Abuse Conditions the Nervous System
Fabrizio Benedetti’s insights into conditioning in his book, “The Patient’s Brain: The neuroscience behind the doctor-patient relationship,” are highly relevant for understanding how repeated medical abuse can shape a person’s nervous system. Conditioning—where the nervous system learns through repeated experiences—plays … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare, PTSD
Tagged doctor-patient relationship, health, healthcare, Medical PTSD, Medicine, pain, PTSD, trust
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Real Care is a Relationship: The Power of One Patient to Change the System
I’ve had to fight harder than most people can imagine just to be treated with dignity in medical spaces. I’ve been harmed, dismissed, ignored, and treated like a problem to manage instead of a human being to care for. But … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged authenticity, change, connection, Doctor, IPNB, learning, Medicine, pain, SGB
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The Neuroscience of Being Believed: A Biology Nerd’s Journey to Evidence-Based Self-Advocacy In Medicine
I’m such a biology nerd and consider my life one long experiment that I have done things like this. In the past 7 years, I have tracked large quantities of personal bio data. It quantifies my struggles and progress as … Continue reading
What Shapes a Human Predator?
The development of a human predator often begins in early relationships and environments that fail to meet fundamental needs for safety, attunement, empathy, and mutual respect. When a child is repeatedly treated as an object, used to meet another person’s … Continue reading
Posted in Predators
Tagged abuse, aggression, connection, development, fear, harm, pain, predators, safety, systems, unsafety
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Why a Doctor Visit Can Increase Our Pain
For someone with a chronic condition, going to the doctor can increase pain because the body is already in a heightened state of sensitivity. When pain persists over time, the nervous system adapts by becoming more responsive to potential threats, … Continue reading
How Repeated Medical Abuse Conditions the Nervous System
Fabrizio Benedetti’s insights into conditioning in his book, “The Patient’s Brain: The neuroscience behind the doctor-patient relationship,” are highly relevant for understanding how repeated medical abuse can shape a person’s nervous system. Conditioning—where the nervous system learns through repeated experiences—plays … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare, PTSD
Tagged doctor-patient relationship, health, healthcare, Medical PTSD, Medicine, pain, PTSD, trust
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Restoring Homeostasis: How IPNB Can Inform CRPS Treatment
From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) reflects how the mind, body, and environment are deeply interconnected. CRPS, particularly in its chronic form, illustrates how trauma—initially physical but often layered with emotional and social stress—can lead … Continue reading
Posted in pain
Tagged co-regulation, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, connection, CRPS, CRPS recovery, interpersonal neurobiology, IPNB, Nervous System, pain, RSDS, safety, trust
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Hopkins Pain Clinic Fail
In the fall of 2022, on insistence from a pain specialist, I was tangling with the healthcare system for access to a clinical consultation with the head of the Johns Hopkins Blaustein Pain Treatment Center. I wish I hadn’t. The … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged abuse, Behavioral Health, Hopkins, Hopkins Pain, IPNB, Johns Hopkins, Mental Health, mistreatment, pain, Pain Clinic, PTSD, standard treatment
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