“Pain is not correlated to the amount of tissue damage that we have.”
In healthcare systems, it often feels always on, and omnipresent. It makes it easy for both practitioners and patients to get lost in the noise. I believe this means we get taught to chase immediate quick markers, things like scans, tests, and quick interventions.
During a recent conversation on the podcast, Dr Lia Ali discussed that ‘looking at a person in the fullness of their lived experience’.
We live in a “more is more” kind of medical culture in the globalised North. Ideally we need to step back from the immediate noise (like a physical checklist) and look at the broader context from a clinical distance. I know… Difficult in the speedy world we live in.
The Biopsychosocial
This is where Lia talks about the ‘biopsychosocial’. Basically that everything is interconnected for everyone. From the biology, to the psychology, and sociology of a person.
Instead of asking, “What drug or intervention can stop this immediate pain?”, we should start asking:
What is this individual actually experiencing in the fullness of their day-to-day life?
How are their past psychosocial experiences shaping their current physical reality?
Are we looking at the root causes of their condition, or are we just treating a superficial marker?
Listen to the rest of the conversation on The Ideas Machine Podcast: