I congratulate Derek Summerfield on his interesting article and hard
work at the clinical coalface. I worked for 20 years in chronic pain and I
noted that those patients awaiting compensation did not find my
consultations helped them become fit but did find the consultations
helpful in their compensation case.
These patients are ill. Similar populations are found in the MoD and
in the labour exchange. Between the obvious applicant with rheumatoid
arthritis and the crook we have this large shifting group. Unfortunately
in the past some members have been dismissed as malingerers or shot as
cowards or imprisoned as benefit cheats.
I repeat these patients are ill but not in the traditional sense. The
illness is a combination of physical (healing fractured clavicle)
psychological (loss of self-confidence and self-respect, fear, a sense of
grievance against the perpetrator, a feeling of being undervalued by an
employer), and existential (an awareness of futility in the fight against
crime, who am I why am I here).
These are difficult concepts for individuals who up to their illness
had been positive, active and involved in a lifestyle where every problem
had a solution. They got on with life in a hectic environment and spend
little time reflecting on the relationship between the mind and the body.
Until we have a better understanding we can only act with sympathy to
these patients and provide for them as best we can, within limited
resources
Rapid Response:
Police force Blues
I congratulate Derek Summerfield on his interesting article and hard
work at the clinical coalface. I worked for 20 years in chronic pain and I
noted that those patients awaiting compensation did not find my
consultations helped them become fit but did find the consultations
helpful in their compensation case.
These patients are ill. Similar populations are found in the MoD and
in the labour exchange. Between the obvious applicant with rheumatoid
arthritis and the crook we have this large shifting group. Unfortunately
in the past some members have been dismissed as malingerers or shot as
cowards or imprisoned as benefit cheats.
I repeat these patients are ill but not in the traditional sense. The
illness is a combination of physical (healing fractured clavicle)
psychological (loss of self-confidence and self-respect, fear, a sense of
grievance against the perpetrator, a feeling of being undervalued by an
employer), and existential (an awareness of futility in the fight against
crime, who am I why am I here).
These are difficult concepts for individuals who up to their illness
had been positive, active and involved in a lifestyle where every problem
had a solution. They got on with life in a hectic environment and spend
little time reflecting on the relationship between the mind and the body.
Until we have a better understanding we can only act with sympathy to
these patients and provide for them as best we can, within limited
resources
Competing interests: No competing interests