Last updated: Sat, Mar 22, 2025
In the earlier section The Pain Matrix in Chronic Pain States, I described some of the findings about what is happening inside the brain when someone is chronically in pain. In this section I want to present briefly some theories about what causes chronic pain to develop—that is, why some people have it while others don't. Sometimes the question is asked in another form: “Why does acute pain develop into chronic pain?”
Most of the following sections are theories I encountered while reading medical and scientific materials during research for this book. In other words, these theories may well be in the books that your doctor used in school and in the books that the current crop of doctors-in-training are studying. We who suffer have all heard many well-meant theories from friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and I'm sure someone could fill a book with such ideas. The one that always comes to mind for me was from an ex-wife's uncle, who was sure that I'd have no more troubles if I would just replace my boot heels. I didn't try his fix, so perhaps he was right?
You may detect some heat in my discussion of some of these ideas. Because I've had so much treatment for my condition over such a long period, I've encountered a lot of working theories, and I've found that even harmless-sounding theories can have serious consequences. But for the most part, the following sections merely present the theories as overview.
Within this section...
Maladaptive Homeostasis (Last updated: Tue, Aug 13, 2024)
Inadequate Perception of Bodily States (Last updated: Tue, Aug 13, 2024)
Bad Posture Causes Pain (Last updated: Thu, Jun 29, 2017)
Past Trauma Predisposes to Pain (Last updated: Thu, Jun 29, 2017)
The Rewards of Illness (Last updated: Tue, Aug 13, 2024)
You're Not Trying Hard Enough. (Last updated: Tue, Aug 13, 2024)
The Pain-prone Personality (Last updated: Wed, Aug 14, 2024)
Fear-avoidance 2 (Last updated: Wed, Aug 14, 2024)
Social Learning Leads to Chronic Pain (Last updated: Wed, Aug 14, 2024)
Anger Causes Pain (Last updated: Wed, Aug 14, 2024)
Exaggerated Reports from Patients (Last updated: Wed, Aug 14, 2024)
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The Challenge of Living in Pain (This page is incomplete.)