Chronic Pain, Loss, and Suffering

The course of chronic illness is unpredictable and extremely varied, and its connection to grief and loss has heretofore been vague. Some losses experienced by patients are permanent, while others are not. Still others experience a loss of self, going from 'normal' to the state of semi-invalidity in the course of a day. Ranjan Roy is recognized as one of the leading experts in chronic pain, and in Chronic Pain, Loss, and Suffering -- the first book of its kind -- he attempts to describe the complexity that surrounds the issues of loss in the chronically ill population. Unlike the suffering that occurs with the death of a loved-one, losses due to chronic pain are somewhat transient, and often do not occur all at once. Job loss for instance, could lead to retraining; but this too is episodic -- many patients feel well for a time before the pain returns. This poses serious challenges to the common understanding of the grieving process. Chronic Pain, Loss, and Suffering will prove invaluable to clinicians and therapists helping patients properly adjust to their loss without the crippling effects of chronic pain or illness.