Another Price of Pain: Social Stigma
Pain has a high social cost for the sufferer, too. Because pain is a personal and subjective experience, it can lead to problems with family and co-workers. While you may be in terrible distress, the people around you just can't see or feel what you're going through.
"I think people in pain sometimes get unfairly dismissed by family and co-workers" Robert Bonakdar, MD, tells WebMD, "especially when they don't have an outward sign of suffering, like a cast or a bandage." Bonakdar is the director of integrative pain management at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, La Jolla, Calif.
Pain has a high social cost for the sufferer, too. Because pain is a personal and subjective experience, it can lead to problems with family and co-workers. While you may be in terrible distress, the people around you just can't see or feel what you're going through.
"I think people in pain sometimes get unfairly dismissed by family and co-workers" Robert Bonakdar, MD, tells WebMD, "especially when they don't have an outward sign of suffering, like a cast or a bandage." Bonakdar is the director of integrative pain management at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, La Jolla, Calif.