Voice 1
Hello, I’m Christy van Aragon.
Voice 2
And I’m Ruby Jones. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. They are easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“I was reporting on the allied armies invading Iraq. Some time later, I became sick. My body’s defence system started to attack my nerves. This meant that I could not move parts of my body. I cannot describe the pain. It was too terrible. I was powerless. I felt alone with my pain.”
Voice 1
Pain. Suffering. Power. Andrew North battled with these three things. He is a reporter for the BBC. His struggle started in 2003. Andrew was working in Iraq. He reported on how the war in Iraq affected the people of Iraq. A short time later, Andrew North faced another kind of war. This time, the fighting was inside his own body. He was unable to move his face and other parts of his body. He was in great pain.
Voice 2
Later, Andrew recovered from his sickness. But the experience had affected him greatly. He began to wonder about other people’s experiences of pain - did pain affect everyone in the same way? Andrew decided to make some radio programmes about the subject. In today’s Spotlight, we examine the issues that Andrew raises in his programmes. And we hear about some new ideas concerning the treatment of pain.
Voice 1
Andrew met many victims of torture during his time in Iraq. One of them was Samia Ibrahim. Samia was a prisoner. In prison, Samia received many beatings. He suffered terrible pain. He remembers that once, the room seemed to become black. He felt like he was falling asleep. Samia could not stop the torture to his body. However, he could protect his mind. Samia explains:
Voice 4
“I had no power and I had to submit. Let them do what they want! I cannot resist it. The only thing I can do is protect my inner self... I thought about the people who were torturing me. I felt that they were not human... In a sense I felt that I was more powerful than them even though I had nothing. They made me stronger.”
Voice 1
Samia’s body was suffering extreme pain. But his mind had taken control - it protected him.
Voice 2
Andrew North talked to other victims of torture. Luis Munoz is from Chile. He suffered torture during the rule of President Augusto Pinochet. He reacted differently than Samia Ibrahim. Luis described the experience:
Voice 5
“Your brain seems to trick you. You start to believe that you did not do anything to prevent what was happening to you. It is as if you helped these people in their crime against you. You begin to think it was your responsibility to protect yourself as a human being and that you failed.”
Voice 1
Samia and Luis represent two different reactions to pain from torture. And Doctor Amanda Williams says that this is normal. She is a psychotherapist at University College, London. She says:
Voice 6
“For some people, the pain is like a prize for surviving. But for others, it turns into a sense of helplessness that they carry inside them. This can cause a lot of damage - it is like the torture lives on inside them.”
Voice 2
But both Samia and Luis have learned from their pain. Luis says:
Voice 5
“I have become more human. I connect more with nature and with other people...That is why I am skilled at helping people - because I can feel their pain.”
Voice 2
Andrew North believes that accepting pain and talking about it can turn it into a positive experience. He says:
Voice 3
“Looking back, it would have helped me to write about my pain in 2003...(Then), doctors concentrated on my physical condition. They did not do much about my pain and how I would deal with it. That was my battle - to fight alone.”
Voice 1
Doctor Allan Basbaum is an expert on pain and its treatment. He claims that this kind of behaviour by doctors is common:
Voice 7
“Doctors who are experts in other areas have almost no training in how to treat pain...The problem is that pain is a product of the body’s system of nerves. And... we cannot see pain - so it is very difficult to measure.”
Voice 1
Doctor Basbaum believes that medical workers need to treat the whole person - not just the physical problem. And part of this is letting the patient express their pain.
Voice 2
Deborah Padfield agrees. She is an artist. And, she works at a London hospital. She listens to patients describing their pain. She encourages them to compare their pain to every-day objects. Then, she takes pictures of those objects with a camera. The patients’ pain then becomes something outside their own bodies - a picture that they can see and touch. This helps patients to describe their feelings more easily. Doctor Basbaum explains why this is a good thing:
Voice 7
“It is very important for patients to be able to express their pain... The kind of drugs that doctors will use depends on how patients describe their pain. So, patients need to try and use the best words they can.”
Voice 1
So, can expressing our pain to others help in the healing process? Andrew North believes it can. And so do some people who listened to his programmes. Many of them sent messages to the BBC website*. One of them was from Scott Cozza. He wrote:
Voice 8
"Pain comes in many forms: physical, emotional, spiritual... And…pain can connect us all. Human suffering is heart-breaking. We must permit ourselves to feel another’s pain. We must not walk the other way. We must reach out (to them).”
Voice 1
And Andrew North continues,
Voice 3
“Pain is part of what makes us human…without it we would never develop as people.”
Voice 2
Andrew North is not the only person to think about this issue. In another Spotlight programme, we will consider some other people’s opinions on pain. Can it ever have a positive side?
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