Pain Language and other Jive Talk

To All My Clinicians in the Struggle  I struggle with patients. Those patients that I am having trouble with are who I study the most. It’s that whole learning from your failures thing. In studying these folks, I have noticed an interesting trend. It doesn’t involve movement. It doesn’t involve medical history It doesn’t involve stress (though it always involve stress) Instead it involves language. I have noticed a few commonalities in how those patients who are either not improving or have been in chronic pain for some time talk. There is one shift, however, that I notice more often than not. Disembodiment from Your Sports Team  I don’t really watch a whole lot of sports; I’d rather play them.  Sports fans however, interest me. It’s fascinating how much ownership a sports fan takes in his or her team. This ownership is especially noticeable when things are going well.  Think of the language one may use during the following instances: Huge victory – “We finally beat the Packers.” Draft Picks – “Our team got some huge prospects.” Championship win – “We are the champions….my friends.” Notice though, how oftentimes language may shift when a team is not doing so well. Huge loss – “The Bears lost…Again.” Draft flops – “I can’t believe they chose Steve Urkel first round!.” Championship loss – “They blew our chance of winning.” Robert Cialdini discusses this concept in his book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.” When our team is winning, we manipulate our association to

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