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Pain Is Personal and It Can’t Simply Be Rated As It Is Now
Too often, certain measures are thought to be easily rated on scales that are inaccurate and simplistic.
Pain can fracture a person’s life in terms of their mental and physical well-being, just as an auto accident can change everything. Individuals in pain haven’t received the care and attention they require because too many in healthcare adhere to the “medication-seeking” myth that is so common. If they provided adequate relief, wouldn’t the patient become addicted, and if they became an addict, wouldn’t they be seeking pain-relieving medications without genuine pain?
It happened in my family until we found an oncologist who understood what was needed. If you’re at death’s door, what does addiction mean? Relief is the only acceptable solution.
According to research, between 3% and 19% of people who got painkillers from a healthcare professional became addicted to them. It is not the rampant medication-seeking torrent of fake painkiller seekers the professionals thought existed.
It was a nasty, convoluted mental process, with lawsuits thrown into the mix because patients died. Some died after taking too much medication because their prescription didn't adequately relieve them or because their life circumstances had led to depression.
