Where is the Pain ?

 

Why do we reduce humans who suffer from chronic pain to simple molecules and receptors? Pain psychologist Rachel Zoffness, P.h.D. returns to talk about fibromyalgia, stomach pain, anxiety, the role of trauma, and much more.

Dr. Rachel Zoffness is a Health and Pain Psychologist, international speaker, author, and thought-leader in pain medicine. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, a Stanford lecturer, and a Mayday Fellow. Her podcast episodes on The New York Times Ezra Klein Show, Ologies (Dolorology), and The Jordan Harbinger Show are viral sensations with more than 6 million views and downloads.

Dr Zdogg, as he is known is Zubin Damania MD a graduate of UC San Francisco. His background is in intensive care and primary care.  ZdoggMD is well known on the YouTube circuit. 

Dr. Z's book, links to our prior interview, audio podcast, and full transcript:

The Pain Management Workbook: Powerful CBT and Mindfulness Skills to Take Control of Pain and Reclaim Your Life

Rachel Zoffness, P.h.D. examines the segments of the pain mechanism in this video.

Key Topics:

0:00 Intro

1:14 The bio-psycho-social nature of pain: phantom limb pain, the limbic system & emotion-pain connection, social contributors

9:00 The stigma of “psychological” pain and holistic approaches to managing it

16:15 The concept of “pain volume” and how emotional states affect it

18:56 Releasing negative emotion: the idea of “tea-kettling”

26:21 Fibromyalgia & trauma, pain amplification and “central sensitization”

33:14 The importance of desensitization practices for chronic pain

36:14 The benefits and risks of narcotics, the danger of removing them too fast

40:41 Sympathetic nervous system, the interaction of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

47:44 Placebo & the mind-body connection

53:34 Anxiety/Depression and Overmedicalization by Big Pharma

1:00:00 Non-pharmacologic treatments for pain, anxiety, and depression

1:04:06 The mind-gut connection: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, performance anxiety, and more

1:11:14 Emotional repression, fear of speaking and exposure therapy, PTSD

1:18:28 Imposter Syndrome and Dunning-Kruger effect, gender roles (vocal fry/uptalk)

1:25:00 The Problem of emotional repression, and Solutions

1:28:37 How biofeedback works

Why do people experience pain in a limb that is missing? (Phantom Limb Pain)

Pain causes angst, anxiety, and physiological effects.  What is the connection between the psycho-biological-emotional aspects of pain?