The doctor, the patient and his pain

Abstract

Although pain is sometimes a warning sign, it is also very often the companion of the path of painful beings. We are beginning to understand the mechanisms of pain, but it is still difficult to treat. Pain imposes its tyranny on daily life, fostering isolation and narrowing the field of possibilities. Because it is an emotional experience, it can only be understood within a specific cultural context. In this sense, it is an anthropological fact, but it is also a political fact, since the relationship that doctors have had and still have with it is marked by stigmatisation, depending on the population studied. History tells us how children, women and certain populations, because of their geographical and cultural origins, have been the victims of ethically scandalous care practices. Therapeutic support for people suffering from chronic pain calls into question the ability of doctors to establish an authentic, respectful and understanding relationship, and their desire to encourage patients suffering from pain to tell their own stories, as part of a genuine hermeneutic of care.