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The
Bad Boy/Bad Girl of Pain
Stigma #4: Shame From Being Tortured
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Few Americans have met victims of torture. Fewer still have had a serious
conversation with such individuals. The fact is that torture victims cannot help
but feel ashamed. They do not want to talk. Pain breaks people. They surrender values and commit
acts or have thoughts which they never anticipated before the pain began. An innocence and
a part of the self dies when torture is prolonged. The survivor may in some ways be
worse off than those who died under the punishment. The remaining person may feel like a
zombie, like they did not really survive. That the person who remains is somebody else,
somebody unfamiliar. This is frightening. Not knowing who you are anymore is frightening
and it is shameful. Torture victims do not rush to talk about their torture, at least not
at its fundamental level. While superficial details may be recounted, workers in this
field find torture victims don't want to talk about concessions they made to the pain,
about the weaknesses they perceive in themselves, about the shame they feel. Central
Pain patients are no different. They feel shame. In many instances, the patient copes by
trying not to think about what they have lost and how diminished they are. They do not
want to think about whether others can bear to be around them, considering their relative
inability to think about anything but pain. The patient is embarrassed to be overwhelmed
by a disease of which listeners cannot conceive and do not give credit.
No torture victim wants to reveal the personal incursions torture has made into
themselves. Thus, there is an aspect about Central Pain which makes us socially
unacceptable to ourselves. When we become bad boys/bad girls to ourselves, it is
particularly demoralizing.
Stigma #1:
Not Fitting Into Common Perceptions
Of Pain
Stigma #2: Social Unacceptability
Stigma #3: Failure
to Respond to Therapy
Stigma #4:
Shame From Being Tortured
Stigma #5: Need
for Pleasure
Stigma #6:
Negative Emotions
Stigma #7: Religiously
Unacceptable Thoughts
Disclaimer:
All material on PainOnline is strictly the opinion of the
authors of the material on this Web site. PainOnline does not attempt to
offer medical advice. If you have concerns about your health, please see a
qualified health care provider.Copyright © 2001 by David Berg
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