“Chuck” (wait, I will explain)

Perceived injustice is a common factor in chronic / persistent pain and is obviously a major factor in injuries that occur at work or on the road when it is felt that there is someone to blame for the misfortune.

In most of the compensation cases I have reviewed, the ‘punishment’, ie: the outcome, was not deserved by the ‘crime’, ie: the injury.

So many cases involve an extraordinarily minor injury mechanism, but in an environment where it is believed that there was an injustice – “I wouldn’t have been injured if I didn’t have to do that work”.

A very recent example that I can recall was a “pinched” back in a 30 year old simply sweeping the floor at work. There were background performance issues and boss and worker were not ‘in a good place’. This worker has had two failed spinal fusion surgeries by two separate surgeons following the discovery of a simple L5/S1 disc bulge on a scan that wasn’t clinically indicated in the first place. He has never returned to work and is now an opiate addict at 37 years old.

It all starts from somewhere …

A more detailed discussion on this is available via:

http://www.bodyinmind.org/the-role-of-perceived-injustice-in-chronic-pain/

and in a recent blog – ‘crime and punishment’

The following short video of an experiment is an excellent (and funny) depiction of how strong this precipitating emotion for pain can be, even in monkeys.

Watch it and you will see why this page is called ‘CHUCK’.