Researchers have seldom invited patients with chronic pain to describe their lived experiences. This phenomenologic study involved in-depth interviews with nine women and four men with nonmalignant chronic pain. The essence of participants’ experiences was unremitting torment by a force or monster that cannot be tamed. The body was altered and recalcitrant, the life world was shrunken, and the pain set up a barrier that separated them from other people. Time seemed to stop; the future was unfathomable. Findings of this study contribute to the phenomenological literature that explores the human body and its symbolic meanings and call into question the idealized positive depiction of chronic illness that is prominent in contemporary literature.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ackerman, M. , & Stevens, M. (1989). Acute and chronic pain: Pain dimensions and psychological status. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 223-228.
2.
Bates, M. , & Rankin-Hill, L. (1994). Control, culture, and chronic pain. Social Science and Medicine, 39, 629-645.
3.
Benner, P. (1994). Introduction. In P. Benner (Ed.), Interpretive phenomenology: Embodiment, caring, and ethics in health and illness (pp. xiii-xxvii). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4.
Bowman, J. M. (1991). The meaning of chronic low back pain. American Association of Occupational Health Nursing Journal, 39, 381-384.
5.
Buytendijk, F.J.J. (1962). Pain: Its modes and functions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
6.
Carpenter, J. S. , Sloan, P., & Andrykowski, M. (1999). Anticipating barriers in pain-management research. Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 31, 158.
7.
Covington, E. C. (1991). Depression and chronic fatigue in the patient with chronic pain. Primary Care, 18, 341-358.
8.
Dworkin, S. F. , Von Korff, M. R., & LeResche, L. (1992). Epidemiological studies of chronic pain: A dynamic-ecologic perspective. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 14, 3-11.
9.
Edwards, R. B. (1989). Pain management and the values of health care providers. In C. S. Hill Jr. & W. S. Fields (Eds.), Advances in pain research and therapy (Vol. 11, pp. 101-112). New York: Raven.
10.
Elton, N. , Hanna, M., & Treasure, J. (1994). Coping with pain: Some patients suffer more. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 802-807.
11.
Engelbart, H. J. , & Vrancken, M. A. (1984). Chronic pain from the perspective of health: A view based on systems theory. Social Science and Medicine, 12, 1383-1392.
12.
Faberhaugh, S. Y. , & Strauss, A. (1977). Politics of pain management. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
13.
Friedemann, M.-L. , & Smith, A. A. (1997). A triangulation approach to testing a family instrument. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 19, 364-378.
14.
Giorgi, A. (1985). Sketch of a psychological phenomenological method. In A. Giorgi (Ed.), Phenomenology and psychological research. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.
15.
Hawthorne, M. C. (1988). The human experience of reparation: A phenomenological investigation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
16.
Henriksson, C. M. (1995). Living with continuous muscular pain: Patient perspectives. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Science, 9, 77-86.
17.
Hilbert, R. (1984). The a cultural dimension of chronic pain: Flawed reality construction and the problem of meaning. Social Problems, 31, 365-378.
18.
Hitchcock, L. , Ferrell, B., & McCaffery, M. (1994). The experience of chronic nonmalignant pain. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 9, 312-318.
19.
Holm, K. , Cohen, F., Dudas, S., Medema, P. G., & Allen, B. L. (1989). Effect of personal pain experience on pain assessment. Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 21(2), 72-75.
20.
Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology (W. Gibson, Trans.). New York: Collier Books. (Original work published 1913)
21.
Hutchinson, S. , Wilson, M., & Wilson, H. (1994). Benefits of participating in research interviews. Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 26, 161-164.
22.
Jensen, M. P. , Turner, J. A., Romano, J. M., & Karoly, P. (1991). Coping with chronic pain: A critical review of the literature. Pain, 47, 249-283.
23.
Kangas, S. , Warren, N. A., & Byrne, M. M. (1998). Metaphor: The language of nursing researchers. Nursing Research, 47, 190-193.
24.
Kesselring, A. (1990). The experienced body: When taken-for-grantedness fails. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of California, San Francisco.
25.
Latham, J. , & Davis, B. D. (1994). The socioeconomic impact of chronic pain. Disability and Rehabilitation, 16, 39-44.
26.
MacGillivray, W. (1986). Ambiguity and embodiment: A phenomenological analysis of the lived body. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
27.
Matas, K. E. (1997). Human patterning and chronic pain. Nursing Science Quarterly, 10(2), 88-95.
28.
McCaffery, M. , & Thorpe, D. (1989) Differences in perception of pain and the development of adversarial relationships among health care providers. In C. S. Hill & W. S. Fields (Eds.), Advances in pain research and therapy (Vol. 11, pp. 113-125). New York: Raven.
29.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). The phenomenology of perception (C. Smith, Trans.). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1945)
30.
Miller, W. L. , Yanoshik, M. K., Crabtree, B. F., & Reymond, W. K. (1994). Patients, family physicians, and pain: Visions from interview narratives. Clinical Research and Methods, 26, 179-184.
31.
Munhall, P. L. (1994). Revisioning phenomenology: Nursing and health science research. New York: National League for Nursing Press.
32.
National Institutes of Health Technology Assessment Conference Statement . (1995, October 16-18). Integration of behavioral and relaxation approaches into the treatment of chronic pain and insomnia. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
33.
North American Nursing Diagnosis Association . (1996). Nursing diagnoses: Definitions and classification 1997-1998. Philadelphia: Author.
34.
Phillips, K. (1994). Testing biobehavioral adaptation in persons living with AIDS using Roy’s theory of the person as an adaptive system. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
35.
Plugge, H. (1967). Der Mensch und sein Leib (The person and human life). Tubingen: Max Neimeyer.
36.
Pollio, H. R. , Henley, T. B., & Thompson, C. J. (1997). The phenomenology of everyday life. New York: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Price, B. (1996). Illness careers: The chronic illness experience. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24, 275-279.
38.
Seers, K. , & Friedli, K. (1996). The patients’ experiences of their chronic non-malignant pain. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24, 1160-1168.
39.
Skevington, S. M. (1983). Chronic pain and depression: Universal or personal helplessness?Pain, 15, 309-317.
40.
Taylor, A. G. , Skelton, J. A., & Butcher, J. (1984). Duration of pain condition and physical pathology as determinants of nurses’ assessments of patients in pain. Nursing Research, 33, 4-8.
41.
Thompson, C. J. , Locander, W. B., & Pollio, H. R. (1989). Putting consumer experience back into consumer research: The philosophy and method of existential phenomenology. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 133-146.
42.
Thorne, S. , & Paterson, B. (1998). Shifting images of chronic illness. Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 30, 173-178.
43.
Ahern, K. (1999). Ten tips for reflexive bracketing. Qualitative Health Research, 9, 407-411.
44.
Creswell, J. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
45.
Follesdal, D. (1998). Edmund Husserl. In E. Craig (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. 4., pp. 574-588). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul.
46.
Giorgi, A. (1975). An application of phenomenological method in psychology. In A. Giorgi, C. Fischer, & E. Murray (Eds.), Duquesne studies in phenomenological psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 82-103). Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.
47.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row. (Original work published 1927)
48.
Howarth, J. (1998). Epistemic issues in phenomenology. In E. Craig (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. 7, pp. 343-348). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul.
49.
Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: A general introduction to pure phenomenology. Allen and Unwin: London.
50.
Jasper, M. (1994). Issues in phenomenology for researchers in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 19, 309-314.
51.
Koch, T. (1995). Interpretive approaches in nursing research: the influence of Husserl and Heidegger. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21, 827-836.
52.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
53.
Paley, J. (1997). Husserl, phenomenology and nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26, 187-193.
54.
Pollio, H. , Henley, T., & Thompson, C. (1997). The phenomenology of everyday life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
55.
Ahern, K. J. (1999). Ten tips for reflexive bracketing. Qualitative Health Research, 9, 407-411.
56.
Drew, N. (1999). A return to Husserl and researcher self-awareness. In E. C. Polifroni & M. Welch (Eds.), Perspectives on philosophy of science in nursing (pp. 263-272). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
57.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row. (Original work published 1927)
58.
Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology (W. Gibson, Trans.). New York: Collier Books. (Original work published 1913)
59.
Husserl, E. (1999). The train of thought in the lectures. In E. C. Polifroni & M. Welch (Eds.), Perspectives on philosophy of science in nursing (pp. 247-262). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. (Lectures first delivered in 1907 at Gottingen)
60.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). The phenomenology of perception (C. Smith, Trans.). Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1945)
61.
Paley, J. (1997). Husserl, phenomenology and nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26, 187-193.
62.
Pollio, H. , Henley, T. B., & Thompson, C. J. (1997). The phenomenology of everyday life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
63.
Porter, E. J. (1998). On “being inspired” by Husserl’s phenomenology: Reflections on Omery’s exposition of phenomenology as a method of nursing research. Advances in Nursing Science, 21, 16-28.
