Chronic Pain “Hot Links” 10.13.18

I’m going to be writing one regular blog post a week (though I missed this week) and trying to put together “hot links” for the best articles/posts I read on chronic pain each week.  Normally, I may shoot for five links, but all three links below are long and worth your effort.  I’ll try to include some diversity in perspectives (medical community, personal stories, Christian perspective, etc).  Without further ado, here are this week’s hot links with a brief description.

• There is a lot of overlap between chronic pain and mental illness.  In the case below, mental illness came first, but it is a heartbreaking and ultimately faith-encouraging personal story about a man’s battle with schizophrenia.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/april/schizophrenic.html?share=7ZtKUxgDLLU6XJTGugJYs%2b8RHSdE29GN

• This story is not for the faint of heart.  It is a firsthand account of a sister lamenting the failures of the medical community that led to her brother’s suicide.  It is absolutely heartbreaking and demonstrates the consequences when people in chronic pain or marginalized, ignored, and stigmatized.

https://hudsonvalleydoctorskilledmybrother.wordpress.com/2018/09/14/suicide-over-pain-telling-my-brothers-story-because-he-cant/

The article below is a balanced perspective of the opioid crisis and its connection to chronic pain patients and also does a good job of describing our chronic pain problem throughout the nation.  The quote below underscores the need for support groups like our own “Broken and Mended” here.

• “In the meantime, support groups like the ones led by Cowan and Steinberg can help, because it seems people with chronic pain mostly have to learn to live with it without help from modern medicine.”

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/america-is-losing-the-war-on-chronic-pain?utm_content=buffer46c06&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#13

David Heflin

Executive Director

David Heflin is the founder and president of Broken and Mended. He is married to Katie and has three kids. David has been a preacher for 17 years and founded Broken and Mended in 2018 after being inspired by his own battle with chronic pain to connect other hurting people to Jesus and each other. David has a B.A. in Bible from Oklahoma Christian University and a Master of Arts in Religion from Azusa Pacific University. He resides in Woodward, OK.

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