Opinion: Pain doesn’t stigmatize people. We do that to each other

In 2000, a truck rear-ended my friend Andrea’s car as she stopped at a crosswalk in a school zone. The truck was going at least 45 miles per hour when it slammed into her. The accident damaged muscles, nerves, and bones from the base of her skull to the bottom of her left leg. It left her with an injured spine, pelvic instability, and significant leg injuries. She has been living with chronic pain ever since.

Andrea rarely takes opioids; she says they make her feel incredibly drowsy and often don’t work well to control her pain.

Yet she frequently experiences intense stigma when seeking care for her pain. Health care providers often regard her pain as a kind of personal weakness. Many of them have told her that “she doesn’t look like she is in pain.” She has lost count of the number of times she has been told