She Has a Pain Problem,Not a Pill Problem

Abstract

People with chronic noncancer pain who rely on prescription opioid painkillers for treatment experience stigmatization, both within and outside of the health care system, which hinders their ability to achieve adequate pain relief. This barrier to appropriate treatment affects not only individual patients but their families as well. In this article, I provide an autoethnographic account of my experience as the daughter of a mother with severe chronic pain who manages her condition with prescription opioid painkillers. Through personal narrative, I explore how I, and members of my family, experience and interpret barriers my mom faces in accessing effective treatment, and how even now, over a decade after my mom’s pain started, the stigma surrounding prescription opioids continues to permeate every facet of our lives.