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For clarification, any patient has been told their pain "is psychological", I& #39;m always so sorry knowing that.
The phrase is used to mean "it& #39;s not my problem, get out" or "i can& #39;t help you." It& #39;s frustrating to see "psychological" used this way.
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The phrase is used to mean "it& #39;s not my problem, get out" or "i can& #39;t help you." It& #39;s frustrating to see "psychological" used this way.
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"It& #39;s in your head" becomes "you& #39;re crazy" "you& #39;re wrong" "you& #39;re weak" or something else awful. That language, used that way, is awful and inappropriate.
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The deception, however, is the separation of the physical body and the brain, which is part of our physical body.
As someone who cares a lot about brains, and have worked with many people who have brain problems. They get this message routinely.
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As someone who cares a lot about brains, and have worked with many people who have brain problems. They get this message routinely.
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As soon as health professionals, who are under-educated and siloed from mental health, psychology, brain function, and even sometimes empathy, think "psychological", they believe "this isn& #39;t for me", or "I can& #39;t do this" or "they don& #39;t need a doctor, they need a psychologist."
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It& #39;s wrong, and it should never happen. The truth is, our entire experience is in our brain.
Our brain doesn& #39;t make a heart attack occur, but it is a part of the perception, pain, and recovery of a heart attack.
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Our brain doesn& #39;t make a heart attack occur, but it is a part of the perception, pain, and recovery of a heart attack.
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Our brain doesn& #39;t cause a bone to be broken, but different brains process broken bones differently, and motivation in rehabilitation, the processing of a new hindrance in our life, and the literal trauma of injury are all processed in our brain.
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I understand why the "its psychological" phrase is hated amongst people with chronic pain; their stories of being dismissed, rejected, accused, and stigmatized are real, and I see the effects of this regularly, in my capacity as a psychiatrist.
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I guess I wanted to post this little tweet thread to express my frustration that the true source of the stigma, which is the brain/body dichotomy. The blood brain barrier exists, but our experience of everything is gated through our brain.
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