Glorified if you bear pain, shamed if you don’t.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Pain, a bitter friend of many months and years.
Pain, a journey strewn with suppressed invisible tears.
‘Valikida,’ ‘Dukhtai,’ ‘Dard ho raha hain,’ ‘Illi novu ide,’ ‘It’s aching’
PAIN knows no language. For it is a language of its own.
And yet the cries of pain are largely unaddressed, even by doctors famous and known.
One of the most common ‘presenting complaints’ in out-patient departments worldwide is ‘PAIN.’ Yet, most patients are left dissatisfied in their pain-relief journey.
Glorified if you bear pain, shamed if you don’t.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Pain, a bitter friend of many months and years.
Pain, a journey strewn with suppressed invisible tears.
“Mumma, my stomach hurts,” she cried.
“Period pain is normal!” she was told.
Over and over and over again, the same responses were retold.
Until she was fed up, tired, numb, and cold.
Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological condition that manifests with symptoms like heavy menstrual periods and period pain. Period pain is normalized to such a large extent that the average delay in diagnosing Endometriosis in Indian women varies from 3.3 years to 9.4 years.
Glorified if you bear pain, shamed if you don’t.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Pain, a bitter friend of many months and years.
Pain, a journey strewn with suppressed invisible tears.
“Did she deliver her baby by Caesarean section?”
“Did she opt for Epidural Anaesthesia during Vaginal Delivery?”
“She must have done it to ESCAPE labor pain.”
“Such a Shame!” “Such a Shame!”
Caesarean section rates have skyrocketed over the past two decades, varying from 5.2% in Nagaland to 60.7% in Telangana. The reasons are multifactorial and systemic. However, the blame and shame of having the ‘easy way out’ often fall on the women. Labor pain seems to be a glorious crown, which when worn with grace, brings honor.
Glorified if you bear pain, shamed if you don’t.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Pain, a bitter friend of many months and years.
Pain, a journey strewn with suppressed invisible tears.
“The best thing about most women of earlier generations?
They did all the housework and never complained.
Women today, have it so good, yet they crib and NAG.
They somatise, get hysterical and proudly carry the feminist TAG.”
‘Implicit bias’ among healthcare professionals has resulted in delays in diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and medical negligence among 1000s of women patients across the world. Their pain is thought to be “just in their minds.” Diagnoses like Anxiety, Depression, Hysteria, Somatoform Disorders, medically unexplained illness, etc., are dished out to women far more commonly than to men. These diagnoses are made before thorough attempts at reaching the correct diagnosis.
Glorified if you bear pain, shamed if you don’t.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Pain, a bitter friend of many months and years.
Pain, a journey strewn with suppressed invisible tears.
Regulations restricting pain medications: Morphine and their likes.
Pain relief beyond reach for severe pain and strife.
Pain-free cancer care, end-of-life care, palliative care
Services available only to those in the ivory tower
Essential Medicines remain unavailable even as patients with cancer shiver and cower!
Access to medicines like morphine is vital for patients with cancer who deal with unimaginable pain. However, none of the Essential Medicines lists in India, both national and state, have all recommended formulations of morphine medication.
Glorified if you bear pain, shamed if you don’t.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
Pain, a bitter friend of many months and years.
Pain, a journey strewn with suppressed invisible tears.
“Your pain is in your mind, there is nothing wrong with you.
Why don’t you stay stress-free? It is all up to you!”
Said the doctor, after running a battery of tests.
Psychological pain knows no relief or rest.
The typical biomedical approach to pain limits the concept of pain to physical pain alone. It does not include psychological pain (which is often experienced as real as physical pain).
Edited by Parth Sharma.
Image by Janvi Bokoliya.
