Money Addicts Win – Drug Addicts And Their Families Lose

There’s an addiction war going on in this country. It’s a war between money addicts and the people they are killing whom they refer to as “drug addicts.” Fact is, most of these “drug addicts” became addicted because the money addicts ran massive marketing campaigns urging doctors to prescribe the pills the money addicts make to as many people as they possibly could. And to keep them coming back for more.

The money addicts make and push highly addictive drugs to the society at large. The money addicts get lots of money and the people get addicted to expensive drugs and when they can’t afford them turn to less expensive street drugs, then they die. For the pill buyers it’s a lose-lose situation. For the pill pushers, it’s win-win-win.

I just watched a documentary called The Crime of The Century streaming on HBO, which depicts how the opioid epidemic began and how deeply entrenched the greed is all the way up to the highest levels of government. The all-pervasive lack of conscience and the hunger for money among the highly respected drug kingpins in this country makes me wonder if this epidemic can ever be reversed and brought to an end. At this very moment, I have my doubts.

Please make a point of watching this poignant documentary. If you do, I’d appreciate hearing from you and would love to know what you think. I’m a chiropractor and I’ve been lobbying for the people who have been hurt the most in this opioid epidemic. I know that pain can be managed effectively without medications or surgeries. But drug lords can’t make big money off the safe methods that offer real relief without diminishing quality of life.

My current research with a neuromodulation device called the Nu-V3 is proving to be a great alternative to opioid prescribing and I can’t wait to see the impact when we go to market end of this year.  I am also working with an AI enhanced telehealth platform called Get A-Head researching the ability to predict patients who are more susceptible to addiction sounding an alarm to the prescribing physician. New drug research that is less harmful is important, but history has shown us that almost all medications have a long list of side effects. My hope is that my work, and the research of other non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical methods prevail.

More And More People Are Dying As A Result Of Diseases Of Despair

As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, I invite you to take into consideration that diseases of despair are killing more and more Americans in every age group each year. Drug overdoses, alcoholism and suicide are among the most common diseases of despair. Not only are more people dying from “diseases of despair”, the life expectancy of men is going down dramatically as a result. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2019, the life expectancy for American men “dropped for a third consecutive year.” They cited the “diseases of despair” as the reason for that increase. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-expectancy-for-american-men-drops-for-a-third-year/ 

Hopelessness Hurts

You may find the term ‘disease of despair’ unusual, but let’s take a closer look. For starters, despair is defined as “the feeling that there is no hope and that you can do nothing to improve a difficult or worrying situation.” According to some sources, the formal category of ‘disease of despair’ refers to people who don’t just feel down, but actively seek out medical care for suicidal thoughts and substance abuse. But not everyone who suffers seeks medical care.

Study Shows Great Leaps In Despair Throughout Every Age Group

Without question, we have already seen that the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased feelings of despair throughout society. Let’s bear this in mind as I review the results of a recent study in the peer-reviewed open access medical journal BMJ Open. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e037679

At the outset of the study in 2008, about 54% of the participants were diagnosed with an alcohol-related disorder, more than 44% were diagnosed with a substance-related disorder and more than 16% were diagnosed with suicidal thoughts/behaviors. Between 2009 and 2018, the rates of diagnoses of “diseases of despair” increased by 68%; the rate of alcohol-related diagnoses increased by 37%; substance related-diagnoses increased by 94%; and suicide-related diagnoses increased by 170%.

The devastating results were seen in every age group. People who were between 55 and 74 years old saw the largest increase in alcohol and substance abuse diagnoses. Substance-related diagnoses in infants, from maternal drug abuse, increased by 114% across the study period. Suicide-related diagnoses increased by 287% among 1-to-17-year-olds, by 210% among those 18- to 34-year-old and 70% in everyone else.

Mental Health Is At The Root Of Diseases Of Despair

Way back in 2010, an article entitled Transforming the Nation’s Health: Next Steps in Mental Health Promotion, states, “The National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine have called for making the healthy mental, emotional, and behavioral development of young people a national priority. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the US Department of Health and Human Services is uniquely positioned to help develop national mental health policies that promote mental health and prevent mental illnesses.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2978180/  Unfortunately, in the decade since this statement was written, there has been an increase in mental illnesses which means a decrease in our country’s mental health. We seem to be in a very precarious position especially coming out of a global pandemic. There are opportunities though to turn the tide, to help out young people learn to cope with the challenges life presents. According to the aforementioned article, “The majority of lifetime mental illnesses begin in young people. Half of all diagnosable lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, and three fourths of all lifetime cases start by age 24.” Unfortunately long periods of time can elapse between the first onset of a mental illness and when help is sought. These are times when many people turn to drugs and alcohol for relief, not knowing that they are experiencing the effects of a mental illness.

Let us keep the mental health of our nation uppermost in our minds as we continue our efforts to recover from the pandemic. As a country, we have the capabilities to “equip young people with the skills, interests, assets, and health habits needed to live healthy, happy, and productive lives in caring relationships that strengthen the social fabric.” Even back in 2010, it was stated that, “This perspective must be the foundation of efforts not only to transform the delivery of behavioral health care in this country but also to alter the very concept of health itself. The stakes are high; as the World Health Organization notes, mental health is “central to building a healthy, inclusive, and productive society.” Today this statement is more urgent than ever.

Providing An Integrative Approach To Pain Treatment May Reduce Opioid Use

Treating pain with highly addictive drugs is not my idea of conscientious healthcare. As a chiropractor, I am a proponent of pill-free and non-surgical pain management. Integrating a traditional medical practice with chiropractic care is not yet widely accepted. However, strides are being made in that direction.

I have been working tirelessly to make this kind of teamwork more mainstream, which is why I have been working together with Dr. Jeanmarie Burke writing, Changes in Opioid Therapy Use by an Interprofessional Primary Care Team: A Descriptive Study of Opioid Prescription Data, which was recently published in The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT). The JMPT is an international and interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the advancement of conservative health care principles and practices. As the premier biomedical publication in the chiropractic profession, the JMPT publishes peer-reviewed, research articles and the Journal’s editorial board includes leading researchers from around the world.

The purpose of this study was to describe changes in opioid-therapy prescription rates after a family medicine practice included on-site chiropractic services. I was fortunate to work with Dr. Julio Menocal, who had the foresight and understanding of the potential to introduce Chiropractic care directly into his practice.

The results of our study strongly indicate that including integrative medicine in the physical space of a primary care practice can be a positive step toward reducing and eliminating the need for opioids in pain management.  It is my hope that integrative medicine providers will use this study to encourage medical practices to team up with chiropractic services.

The following link provides access to the study:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161475421000129

The Opioid Epidemic Is Still Alive And Killing

With everyone’s attention in the U.S. fully turned for the past year and a half toward the pandemic and vaccines and what one can and cannot do, there is one issue that once was in the spotlight as well as the hearts and minds of legislators and public health agencies that has completely fallen off the radar. I’m talking about the opioid epidemic.

With this thought front and center, I was not surprised to come across an article at Harvard.edu, in which Michael Barnett, assistant professor of health policy and management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health talked about why 2020 is likely to be the deadliest year on record for opioid overdoses. He echoes my own thoughts when he says, “The pandemic is in many ways a perfect storm for anyone who is struggling with substance use disorder. People have lost their jobs. Social and family interactions have been limited. And the pandemic itself is depressing and anxiety provoking. These are all stimuli that can stress the psyche and the finances of someone who has an addiction. In some cases, it could push a person who was getting their addiction under control back toward substance use. In other cases, the pandemic might be the trigger that actually makes someone consider initiating drug use, which could end up becoming an addiction and being harmful.” https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/a-crisis-on-top-of-a-crisis-covid-19-and-the-opioid-epidemic/

We were making such good headway and had momentum building on the opioid crisis prior to COVID-19. Now, all the attention that has been taken away has many who have been focused on the opioid crisis feeling like we have to start from ground zero again. We have to remind people about the devastation being caused by opioids and convince them about the toll opioids are taking on millions of lives. The pandemic has increased anxiety in everyone. Mental health issues lead people to experiment with drugs to ease the tension. We must refocus our attention as healthcare providers on this deadly epidemic. Let me remind you in no uncertain terms that the death toll is rising every day.

Today’s Young Ones May Exhibit Negative Effects Of Pandemic Years From Now

In coming years, the pandemic will be long forgotten, yet, it may have a profoundly negative effect on many children who are experiencing anxiety caused by the pandemic today. Fear is not something that many children know how to deal with. In fact, most people have a difficult time expressing, understanding and eliminating the emotional feelings of fear in the physical body. This is one reason parents and those in health care must be hyper-vigilant to the signs that the pandemic may be having subtle emotional effects on the mental health of children.

Psychological Effects Of Pandemic Are Likely To Be Seen In Some Of Today’s Children Long After The Pandemic Has Been Forgotten

Even during normal times, adolescence is when most mental illnesses begin to show up. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) 1 in 6 children in the U.S. aged 6 -17 experience a mental health disorder each year. Adolescents don’t understand their depression or anxiety, which makes it compelling to reach out for whatever makes them feel better. It’s safe to say that the fear of catching a deadly virus, which has made some children afraid to be around other people can be deeply anxiety provoking.

Mental Illness Often Contributes To Drug Use

Mental illness is very often a contributing factor to the tendency toward drug use. NAMI confirms that “substance use disorders, defined as the repeated misuse of alcohol and/or drugs, often occur simultaneously in individuals with mental illness, usually to cope with overwhelming symptoms.”  NAMI further notes that 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24. https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions

To further complicate matters, very often the things that make them feel better are in the medicine and liquor cabinets in their own homes.

Be Alert For Common Symptoms Of Drug Use And Mental Illness

The fact is that substance use disorders and mental illness often go hand-in-hand. The combination of the two illnesses has its own term, according to NAMI. It is called dual diagnosis, or co-occurring disorders. And either disorder can develop first. Some signs to be alert to in your child include, but are not limited to the following:

• Withdrawal from friends and family

• Sudden changes in behavior

• Engaging in risky behaviors

.

Early Prevention And Treatment May Help Prevent Later Opioid Use

One of the most important things you can do as parents if you notice any of the signs that your child may be using drugs or developing mental illness is to seek treatment right away. The reason being, according to a recent study published at JAMAnetwork.com, “childhood tobacco use and chronic depression may be associated with impaired reward system functioning, which may increase young adults’ vulnerability to opioid-associated euphoria. Preventing and treating early substance use and childhood mental illness may help prevent later opioid use.” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2773983?guestAccessKey=b3324492-a593-4805-98c6-269a2c30e7b0&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social_jamapsyc&utm_term=4691924617&utm_campaign=partnership&linkId=115201871

Set An Example For Your Children

As parents, the best way to teach our children is by example. For instance, instead of teaching your children that there’s a pill for every pain, explore the use of other ways to manage pain. Chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture, mindfulness and other modalities will steer children away from the belief that drugs are the answer to every problem. Once the brain’s reward system is broken it may be too late. I bring up the treatment of pain because it is only a matter of time until your child has a sports injury, car accident, tooth pulled or fall, and the ER or urgent care may prescribe an opioid for pain. With the underlying mental health issues described in this report, the last thing we should introduce is any opioid medication.

Early detection of potential issues is important. Especially in light of the past year and a half of heightened precautions and not knowing how much longer we will be living in a guarded state. Children are super vulnerable and sensitive. Let’s do everything we can to protect our children from suffering needlessly in the future as a result of conditions that exist today. Be vigilant and diligent in your children’s behavior.

Pseudo-Addiction Sounds About As Plausible A Phrase As Fake News

The term “pseudo-addiction” was coined back in 1989 by Dr. David Weissman and James Haddox, an employee of Purdue Pharma, to describe a case of “a 17-year-old male with leukemia, pneumonia, and chest wall pain.  The patient displayed behaviors (moaning, grimacing, increasing requests for analgesics) wrongly interpreted by the physicians and nurses as indicators of addiction, rather than of inadequately treated pain. The term pseudo-addiction is not a diagnosis, but rather a way to describe a phenomenon about the attitudes and motivation of clinicians in managing pain through our fears and misunderstanding of pain, pain treatment, and addiction.”

Pseudoaddiction

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2710565/

As a chiropractor who has been treating patients with pain for decades, I’m appalled that Purdue Pharma decided that clinicians’ “fears and misunderstanding of pain and pain treatment” required such nomenclature. However, the term is more commonly applied to describe patients – not the attitudes of their clinicians – who would, according to pharmaceutical companies, be better served by being given more opioids.

Let me break this down for you. Let’s start by examining the word itself.

The prefix pseudo- (from Greek ψευδής, pseudes, “lying, false”) is used to mark something that superficially appears to be (or behaves like) one thing but is something else. Subject to context, pseudo may connote coincidence, imitation, intentional deception, or a combination thereof.

Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain. It is considered both a complex brain disorder and a mental illness.

Pseudo-addiction is a term coined in 1989 to describe the phenomenon of patients with pain being under-treated. The idea is that patients with legitimate pain that could be alleviated with opioid painkillers exhibit drug-seeking behavior that is misinterpreted as addiction.

So, if these patients are not addicted, they are clearly “dependent” on opioids. So, let’s look at the meaning of dependence. While addiction is classified as a disease, dependence is a state of being physically dependent on a certain substance. Addiction is rooted in your brain, but dependence occurs when your body as a whole becomes used to the effects of a drug and goes into withdrawal if you stop using that substance.

My question is this: how can anyone legitimately separate the “brain” from the “body as a whole”? How can one say that long-lasting changes in the brain are any different than when “the body as a whole becomes used to the effects of a drug and goes into withdrawal?”

Pseudo-addiction is a manufactured lie to confuse and rationalize the over-prescription of opioids. This is a subject I will be writing about again soon because it is such twisted terminology that is used to pull the wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting public.

Mental Stressors Could Contribute To Tiger Wood’s History Of Accidents And Conflict

Let me state clearly and firmly before I get too deep into this that I understand Tiger Woods is an adult who may have rejected any number of “alternative” treatments for his litany of injuries. He may not be a victim at all, however, his medical care could have been very different and might have contributed to a different, pain-free life. With that being said, let’s look at his history of professional injuries and personal conflicts that could lead to describing him as a victim of healthcare that may have been less than optimal

I tend to share the view of the founder of the Alternative Pain Treatment Directory, author and Licensed Clinical Social Worker and chronic pain survivor, Cindy Perlin, who posted a recent article about Tiger Wood’s recent automobile accident. She suggests that Tiger’s pain treatment may have been incorrect or inappropriate.

Perlin writes, “Professional golfer Tiger Woods, at age 45, is one of the most famous and successful athletes in the world. He started playing golf when he was 3 years old, and by the age of 7 was winning golf tournaments. As of 2017, Forbes listed him as the second highest-earning athlete of modern times, at $1.7 billion. However, being rich and famous does not shield someone from getting bad medical care, and Wood’s history of physical injuries and medical interventions leads me to suspect that his pain care was not optimal.” https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/is-tiger-woods-a-victim-of-poor-pain-treatment

Red Flags

Perlin acknowledges that she has no “insider knowledge” of Tiger Woods’ medical condition or treatment. But she, as do I, sees the following as clear red flags:

Five back surgeries

Three single car accidents

Multiple tendon, ligament and joint injuries 

History of addiction treatment

As a chiropractor, I can tell you that back surgery is almost never the solution patients think it’s going to be. But it is a pretty solid way to get opioid pain killers. And post-surgery pain pill prescriptions are how the majority of people become addicted to opioids.’

Research has shown that the more surgeries a patient has, the less likely an operation is to successfully relieve pain. In one study, the success rate for initial surgeries was over 50%; success of second surgeries was 30%; third surgeries 15%; and fourth surgeries 5%. Research has also shown that people in psychological distress also have poorer spine surgery outcomes.

Woods has publicly admitted that the use of prescription painkillers contributed to at least one of his single car accidents and he has been in treatment for addiction. So the big question is, what about psychological interventions? Where does his healthcare team weigh in on this? Why has no one been urging him to pay attention to his mental health and wellbeing?

Chronic Stress Can Lead To Physical Pain And Injury

Chronic stress can also result in chronically tight muscles that make the body more prone to injury. When you consider the stressors under which Tiger has lived such as early childhood fame, rigors of competition, marital discord, racial discrimination in an all-white sport and other stressors the repetitive injuries make more sense. And so does the need for psychological help.

I think Tiger is the GOAT (greatest of all time) in the game of golf and that if his professional care included more mental health training he may not be in the situation he is in today. I hope other up-and-coming young athletes can learn from Tiger’s path and follow another road that leads to less pain and suffering.

Keeping People Sick And In Pain Is A Multi-Trillion Dollar Business

By Dr. John Rosa

Our so-called “health system” is actually a misnomer. In fact, the mainstream medical industry is alive, well, and thriving by keeping people sick and in pain. Let me paint the picture for you by starting with a few well-known facts.

First, in 2017, global expenditures for healthcare exceeded $7.8 trillion, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Secondly, you are probably very aware that there are people in this world who are willing to kill other human beings whether during a robbery among strangers or very often a spouse, ‘friend’, or relative for a few dollars. So, it doesn’t take a leap of imagination to conclude that there are many people who will do anything, especially when they never have to come face-to-face with their victims, for a big piece of a multi-trillion-dollar pie. You may be able to more clearly understand now that keeping people healthy is not quite as lucrative as keeping them unhealthy.

 

Suppression Versus Progression

Now, let me present a little history for you from an article at PainTreatment.com. Way back when – I’m talking the 1600’s – the Salem Witch Trials were the first effort at suppressing health practices in the U.S. It’s a fairly well-known and documented fact, which is stated in a recent article I came across in Alternative Pain Treatment Directory, that, “The women who were tried and executed were herbalists who were accused of practicing “the Devil’s magic.” https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/suppression-of-alternative-medicine-is-killing-us

A couple of hundred years later, homeopathy was developed in Germany. As the aforementioned article explains, “Homeopathy is based on extreme dilutions of natural substances that trigger the body’s healing response and it became wildly popular because it worked and because it was so much gentler than common treatments of the time, which included bloodletting, chloroform, and mercury. Homeopathy proved much more effective than conventional treatment during the cholera epidemics of 1832 and 1849. By the end of the 19th century, there were 44 homeopathic medical schools and more than 100 homeopath-supervised hospitals in the U.S. In the deadly flu epidemic of 1918, 25-50 million people died, while deaths of people treated with homeopathy were rare.” https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/suppression-of-alternative-medicine-is-killing-us

Another fact the article reveals is that, “homeopaths created the first medical association in the U.S. back in 1844. However, once the American Medical Association (AMA) was created three years later, the article points out that, “one of its first actions was to ban homeopaths from becoming members and expelling any members who dared to even consult with a homeopath. In 1910, the Flexner Report, commissioned by the Carnegie Foundation and supported by the Rockefeller family, resulted in standardizing the practice of medicine in a way that virtually eliminated homeopathic medicine. All the homeopathic hospitals and medical schools were forced to close.”

https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/suppression-of-alternative-medicine-is-killing-us

The story continues. “After homeopathy was effectively squelched, the AMA came after chiropractors. The chiropractic profession was founded in the United States in 1895. During the first half of the twentieth century, with the active encouragement of the AMA, many chiropractors were prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license and many went to jail. The AMA founded the Committee on Quackery in 1963. The committee had the avowed goal of creating a health care monopoly that would eliminate the chiropractic profession. Because chiropractic made little use of technology and no use of drugs, the profession had no strong financial allies. Meanwhile, the AMA had access to the deep pockets of the pharmaceutical industry to further its goals. AMA members faced expulsion from the association not only for referring to chiropractors but even for belonging to the same country club or church or synagogue—association was strictly prohibited. As a result, chiropractors faced discrimination in not only their professional life but also their personal life.” https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/suppression-of-alternative-medicine-is-killing-us

In 1976, five chiropractors sued the AMA for libel. The suit also included as codefendants the American Hospital Association, the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Physicians, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals. Eleven years later, a federal appellate court judge ruled that the AMA had engaged in a “lengthy, systematic, successful, and unlawful boycott” designed to restrict cooperation between MDs and chiropractors to eliminate the chiropractic profession as a competitor in the US health care system. In recent years, continued misinformation campaigns and insurance coverage restrictions (including fees that have not increased in four decades, visit limitations, and unreasonable paperwork demands), continue to undermine the practice of chiropractic. https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/suppression-of-alternative-medicine-is-killing-us

I recommend reading the entire article if you’re interested in learning more about the suppression of alternative health care options and more effective ways of healing people throughout the ages. It goes into much more depth about cancer treatment as well. In the meantime, if you really desire health without taking drugs or undergoing surgeries, look into more alternative forms of healing.

Children Are At Risk Of Being As Emotionally Damaged As Soldiers Returning From War

By Dr. John Rosa

You may think the title of this piece sounds ludicrous. Let me explain. Children between the ages of 6 and 17 years of age are in a state of constant neurological development. They can easily be negatively impacted by severe trauma or repetitive micro traumas. If you take into consideration the events of 2020 alone, without having a clue what is going to unfold this year, you may quickly understand.

For starters, the year began with an invisible monster in the form of the COVID-19 virus. Following that, the civil unrest and political upheaval that occurred was deeply disturbing. The west coast of the U.S. was on fire and the gulf coast was underwater. These events were enough to wreak havoc on the most solid adult, let alone children who are not equipped to understand or make sense of the world around them.

These are the kinds of unnerving events that often lead some young children into tobacco use and depressive disorders. According to an article in Clinical Pain Advisor, “Tobacco use and depression in childhood are key risk factors associated with young adult opioid use.” These behaviors lead to impaired reward system functioning and according to research, “may increase young adults’ vulnerability to opioid-associated euphoria.” https://www.clinicalpainadvisor.com/home/topics/opioid-addiction/impaired-reward-system-functioning-may-increase-the-vulnerability-of-young-adults-to-opioid-associated-euphoria/

According to the study cited in the Clinical Pain Advisor article, “Opioid mortality of young adults has skyrocketed. Although prescription practices have changed, no effective solution for the current epidemic of promising preventive measures against future opioid crises is in sight.” The studies findings suggest “strong opportunities for early prevention and intervention including in primary care settings.” https://www.clinicalpainadvisor.com/home/topics/opioid-addiction/impaired-reward-system-functioning-may-increase-the-vulnerability-of-young-adults-to-opioid-associated-euphoria/

With these facts in mind, it is imperative that the primary care system pays laser-focused attention to what could turn out to be a lost generation. A generation of children whose behavior is reflective of having been in a war-torn environment results in post-traumatic stress disorder and is nothing short of devastating. Let’s do everything we can to help our children.

Emotional Pain Causes The Brain To Play A Major Role In Chronic Pain  

By Dr. John Rosa

Recent research reveals that, “emotional pain activates many of the same limbic brain centers as physical pain. This is especially true… for the most common chronic pain syndromes – back pain, headaches, and fibromyalgia.” https://neurosciencenews.com/opioid-chronic-emotion-pain-17507/

With this in mind, it’s no wonder why it’s easy to remember the “accident” that appears to be the cause of your chronic back pain. What might not be so easy to correlate is your emotional state when you had the “accident.” Were you angry? Did you just have a fight with your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife? Did you just go through a break-up? Did you lose your job?

We simply don’t associate emotional traumas with chronic pain. However, we do believe that “bad things happen in three’s.” So when your girlfriend breaks up with you, then you get into an accident, you don’t think much of it. In fact, you’re on high alert waiting for the next “bad thing” to happen. But, when the back pain begins and persists, you associate it only with the accident, not with the heartbreak.

What if chronic pain is how the brain diverts our attention away from what’s really bothering us? The late Dr. John Sarno (http://johnesarnomd.com/)  wrote several books and treated thousands of patients based on this premise.  And because, as the research reveals, our brain has been activated by the emotional trauma, it remembers the pain and continues to remind us that there was a bigger trauma at play than the accident.

Unfortunately, doctors are more inclined to write a prescription for opioids. What is coming to light now is that many of the patients who use opioid medications long term for the treatment of chronic pain have both physical and social (emotional) pain. But the opioids don’t work long-term. The pain remains and the pills continue to flow. And no one is paying attention to the role the limbic brain is playing. Until now.

It is my great hope that continued recognition of the social/emotional aspects of chronic pain and opioid action can improve our treatment of chronic pain and our use of opioid medications.