Pain is Really Strange: Graphic medicine

by Steve Haines, Sophie Standing (Illustrator)

Overview

Answering questions such as 'how can I change my pain experience?', 'what is pain?', and 'how do nerves work?', this short research-based graphic book reveals just how strange pain is and explains how understanding it is often the key to relieving its effects.

Studies show that understanding how pain is created and maintained by the nervous system can significantly lessen the pain you experience. The narrator in this original, gently humorous book explains pain in an easy-to-understand, engaging graphic format and reveals how to change the mind's habits to transform pain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848192645
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	06/21/2015
Series:	...is Really Strange
Edition description:	Illustrate
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	300,347
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.10(d)

About the Author

Steve Haines is a trainer, bodyworker and author. He has studied Yoga, Shiatsu, Craniosacral Therapy, TRE® (Trauma Releasing Exercises) and is a UK registered Chiropractor.
Steve is the bestselling author of Pain is Really Strange, Trauma is Really Strange and Anxiety is Really Strange, which was Highly Commended by the BMA in 2018. He lives between London and Geneva.
www.bodycollege.net

Sophie Standing is an illustrator and designer, specialising in human sciences. Her style combines digital and hand-made, with an emphasis on rich colour, textures and metaphorical concepts.
https://www.sophiestandingillustration.com/

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. Pain is really strange. Acute versus chronic pain, definitions and some history of pain. Your brain's assessment of danger is essential to the pain experience. 2. Pain is Complex. Your brain often makes mistakes, chronic pain is a fault in the alarm system. 3. It Is Not About The Tissues. Sensitisation in the nervous and immune systems and how tissues heal in a few months. 4. How Do Nerves Work? Knowing how nerves work helps understand chronic pain. 5. There Is Something You Can Do To Change Your Pain Experience. Creativity, visualisation, movement, body awareness, and skillfull language are tools to change pain. 6. References are in footnotes in the book and in more detail on www.painisreallystrange.com.

Editorial Reviews

...Sophie Standing's artwork is instrumental to the success of this volume. She has a distinctive and engaging style that brings to life text that could be dull or overly technical without this visual element. This is a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in biology or medicine and it works extremely well in the graphic novel format.

The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Collections YALSA

...Sophie Standing's artwork is instrumental to the success of this volume. She has a distinctive and engaging style that brings to life text that could be dull or overly technical without this visual element. This is a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in biology or medicine and it works extremely well in the graphic novel format.

The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Collections YALSA

A beautifully illustrated book that provides a fun yet informative narration of the science of pain.

International Therapist - Kay Mitchell

This book is not for all people with chronic pain - but I would highly recommend it for people living with pain who have the emotional intelligence to look within and for whom visualisation, meditation and self-awareness might provide 'creative responses'. It is a great buy for the right person.

The Association for Perioperative Practice - Felicia Cox

Explaining your chronic pain to your friends, family or boss can be difficult. But what if there were a tool, which could not only help your support network better understand your suffering, it could also help relieve your pain? The research-based graphic novel Pain is Really Strange by body worker Steve Haines and illustrator Sophie Standing might be able to accomplish both.

...So take 30 minutes and read this book - not only will it give you an informative, entertaining method of translating pain to your support network, research shows that it could also relieve your pain.

Pain Pathways Magazine

Pain Is Really Strange is a revelation. I have been actively managing multiple health conditions for over 20 years. In his book, Steve unpacks information about our brains, nerves, and body memories, sketching out a framework, which has presented me with a new, insightful perspective on my pain/health/medical issues. He differentiates different types of pain and eloquently articulates bits of information I have encountered over the years but have not been able to join up. I shall re-read it often as a touchstone. Brilliant!

Craig Givens

The wisdom and knowledge in this seemingly simple book sneaks up on the reader. Initially one would not think that such a depth of insight could be infused in a picture book. However, it can be likened to a printed version of a TED Talk. It engages the reader more and more with each page until in the end the reader realizes they want to read it again because it contains so much useful information in such an easily accessible manner.

David Berceli

With this straightforward, smart, and visually rich book, Steve Haines has done a huge service to people by helping them to better map their bodies, resolve fear of movement, and to find their way out of pain. This book is incredibly easy to follow, but doesn't dumb down pain science in the least. Understanding what pain is is a crucial part of healing, and this succinct and wonderfully illustrated book is the perfect resource for educating people about why they experience pain, and how they can "unlearn" it. I can't wait to give this book to all of my clients and to recommend it to all of my listeners. Whether you are a person suffering with chronic pain, or a teacher or practitioner who wants to better understand pain in the context of your work, read this book. It is a tremendous resource.

Brooke Thomas

This seemingly innocuous picture book on pain is so much more. Steve Haines has compiled a brilliant little volume of insights. Its colorful images invoke a playful approach to unlearning old patterns. Its rich scientific information helps disassemble, piece by piece, the way we've come to think about pain as a culture. Haines takes the next step, too; he doesn't leave us wondering what to do next, but offers practical tools we can use to rewire our mind-body response to pain. This tiny book packs a powerful punch!

Bo Forbes

Steve and Sophie have done an extraordinary thing: they have managed to make pain beautiful and interesting. If you want to really understand your relationship with pain and be thoroughly entertained at the same time then this is the book for you.

Fred Deakin