Showing results for "Pain Studies" in Biographies & Memoirs

In this extended lyric essay, a poet mines her lifelong experience with migraines to deliver a marvelously idiosyncratic cultural history of pain - how we experience, treat, and mistreat it. Her sources range from the trial of Joan of Arc to the essays of Virginia Woolf and Elaine Scarry to Hugh Laurie’s portrayal of Gregory House on House M.D. As she engages with science, philosophy, visual art, rock lyrics, and field notes from her own medical adventures (both mainstream and alternative), she finds a way to express the often-indescribable experience of living with pain.

Pain is part of human existence, but we understand very little of the mechanics of it. We damage ourselves, we feel pain, we seek help from a professional or learn to not do that bad thing again. The story of what goes on in our body is not this simple. Even medical practitioners themselves often fail to grasp the complexities of our minds and bodies and how they interact when dealing with pain stimulus. Throughout history we've tried to prevent it and mediate its affects, resulting in the current situation we find ourselves; highly medicated with a booming opiates industry. 

Transformative, enlightening and inspiring - a compelling and candid story of life with constant pain. Irish broadcaster and producer Andrea Hayes is well known to the Irish public for her positive, friendly and down-to-earth persona on television and radio. Hidden behind her smile, though, is Andrea's battle with constant chronic pain. After over 20 years of unanswered questions, misdiagnosis, failed procedures and despair, she was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, Chiari Malformation 1.

An honest reckoning with the war on terror, masculinity, and the violence of American hegemony abroad, at home, and on the psyche, from a veteran whose convictions came undone When Lyle Jeremy Rubin first arrived at Marine Officer Candidates School, he was convinced that the “war on terror”...

This is my memoir - a story of hope, strength, and life in all its sad, hopeless reality. However, no sadness remains, and so I write this as a message to all the women. It doesn't matter if you're from a broken home, in a broken marriage, or empathetic toward anyone who is in these circumstances - you will survive. I also write this to the sons and daughters who have forgotten peace in their own homes. Remember, there will be peace; you must never give up.

A Moving Story of Redemption and Second Chances Jep Robertson, the youngest son of Duck Commander Phil Robertson, and his wife, Jessica, open up about their personal trials, their early years together, and the challenges that might have destroyed them both had the grace of God not intervened...