Private and Public PainPrivate and Public Pain

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Cultural Understanding of Cultural Understanding of PainPain

Not all social or cultural groups may Not all social or cultural groups may respond to pain in exactly the same wayrespond to pain in exactly the same way

How people perceive and respond to pain, How people perceive and respond to pain, both in themselves and in others, can be both in themselves and in others, can be influenced by their cultural and social influenced by their cultural and social backgroundbackground

How and whether, people communicate How and whether, people communicate their pain to health professionals and to their pain to health professionals and to others can be influenced by social and others can be influenced by social and cultural factorscultural factors

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Pain PerspectivesPain Perspectives

Physiological perspective› Pain can be thought of a type of signaling

device for drawing attention to tissue damage or to physiological malfunction.

› Pain arises when a nerve or nerve ending is affected by a noxious stimulus, either from within the body or from outside it.

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Pain PerspectivesPain Perspectives

Physiological Perspective› Pain is culture-free, in the sense of there being

a universal biological reaction to a specific type of stimulus (i.e., sharp objects, hot/cold phenomena). However, the 2 forms of reaction can be differentiated into: INVOLUNTARY: Instinctive such as pulling away from

the sharp object VOLUNTARY: Removing the source of pain and taking

action to treat the symptom (e.g. medicines) or asking another person for help in relieving the symptom

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Private Pain Perspective› Pain is felt by a person and signals it to other

people, verbally or non-verbally› Pain remains private because there is no

outward clue or sign that the person is experiencing pain, even when it is severe It can be cultural –

CHEYENNE INDIANS: Pain is a ritual from boyhood to manhood

FILIPINOS: Painful episodes among boys to become men (i.e., baptism of fire and blood)

Pain PerspectivesPain Perspectives

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Public Pain Perspective› Public pain depends on the person’s

interpretation of the significance of the pain; whether it is seen as “normal” or “abnormal” pain. Examples: Dysmenorrhea or Heart pain

Normal Pain: Cultural prescription of relief Abnormal Pain: Biomedical intervention

Pain PerspectivesPain Perspectives

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Physical Pain Perspective› Physical pain is a particularly vivid and

emotionally laden symptom, it can only be understood in a cultural context by seeing it as part of the wider spectrum of – MISFORTUNE

Form of punishment Moral transgressions Witchcraft

Pain PerspectivesPain Perspectives

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Social Aspects of PainSocial Aspects of Pain

Permissible pain behavior within a society are learned in childhood and infancy (e.g. avoidance of hot and cold, excessive sports for girls, spanking)

Individual sufferers are encouraged to turn their private pain into public pain within a ritual context of healing (e.g., Chinese mourning rituals or help groups for cancer or HIV positives)