Please use the form below to submit comments. Also provide an e-mail address and name. Your e-mail address and/or name will be used only to communicate with you about this or future comments you may submit. I am particularly keen to receive references to published material that contradicts the assertions and arguments I have made.
By submitting the above comment, I grant to Ross Alan Hangartner the right to incorporate the comment in full or in part, literally, paraphrased, or conceptually, as he sees fit, into State of Pain or other writings that he may create in the future. However, I don't grant permission to include my name or e-mail address, or to use them in any other way than to contact me for follow-up. I understand that by submitting the comment I acquire no right of any kind in State of Pain or other writings of Ross Alan Hangartner.
Last updated: Mon, Mar 10, 2025
This book, State of Pain, is about having pain and about being treated for pain, particularly what is called "chronic pain." Chronic pain is very often not only chronic but more-or-less permanent. The book draws on my personal experience as a pain sufferer over decades, my study of the scientific and educational literature about pain, and my own background as an engineer and scientist.
State of Pain. The author's introduction.
If You're New To This. Important things that you should be aware of if you are new to persistent pain.
How Pain Is Made. The physiological science of pain. How pain is produced, and aspects of pain that make it difficult to diagnose and treat effectively.
The Psychology of Pain. This section takes the viewpoint that psychological influences affect not only or primarily pain sufferers, but all people who are involved with pain in any role. It looks at how psychologists have envisioned and treated pain, but it also looks in some detail at the ideas that care providers and plain folks have about pain.
A Rational Model of Emotion and Pain. Pain science has emphasized the sensation of pain at the expense of the emotions associated with pain. This section emphasizes the emotional role of pain.
The Experience of Chronic Pain. The pain literature is lacking in understanding what it is to live with chronic pain. This section tries to address that lack.
Links to the Table of Contents, Index, and Glossary are available at the top and bottom right of each page.