Pain is Really Strange

Really Strange

by Steve Haines

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Health, Science, Psychology, Mental Health, Self Help

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2015

Reviews

[Emily B · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative, concise and accessible approach to explaining chronic pain.

I feel like I might have to read this a few times to really benefit from it.

[Adrienne Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is from a series of non-fiction comics by Steve Haines that act as primers on how our bodies experience different things like trauma, anxiety and in this case, pain.

I’ve been struggling to get through the novel All’s Well by Mona Awad, which centers on a protagonist with chronic pain. I haven’t been sure how to feel about the characterization of this experience, so I turned to this little comic I bought years ago for some facts.

One thing that keeps coming up in All’s Well, is this notion that pain is a performance, something that is thought by others to be “all in your head.” That doesn’t sit right with me. It seems like gaslighting to describe it that way. But even people who study pain seem to struggle to pin it down. One quote from this comic that resonated with me was this:

“The mind and the body are inexorably linked, there is no such thing as pure thought. Changes in the brain always result in a change in physiology somewhere in the body.”

There’s some interesting info in here and the illustrations by Sophie Standing are outstanding. Haines lists all of his references. I think I’ll be looking more into this topic for sure.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike other texts on chronic pain, this one is accessible, short, and it is not condescending. It's helpful. However I also really recommend reading the footnotes as they contextualize the statements. You may have to use a magnifying glass.

The pages are not numbered, but the footnote on page 10 says that two causes of chronic pain are special cases are are known to involve more than sensitization: cancer pain, where tumors grow and compress other parts of the body; and neuropathic pain, where the nerve structure is damaged. I have neuropathic pain, which helps explain to me why my previous forays into meditation and emotional coping skills have not been very effective at dealing with this pain. It would be nice if that was highlighted more?

It seems to me that studies of chronic pain are an emerging area of science and research, and that not a lot is known about the subject. It's helpful as a patient to know that surgery for lower pack pain will probably not help you (except as a placebo), and that meditation and learning new things can be helpful. I feel that it's important to not blame yourself if you try the techniques mentioned at the end of the book and they don't work for you.

I find comics to be a really excellent way of getting information across. The combination of short bites of information with interesting drawings that are pleasant to look at-- this really works for me even when I'm tired and in a lot of pain.

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“Pain is a universal human experience”

Outside of poor teeth/multiple dental works, and childbirth, I’ve been lucky not to have experienced too much pain life - I’m generally quite weak but have pushed my body to certain points and often have over confidence in it, whilst also completely acknowledging that things will age and change, and I have to adapt accordingly. Having worked in health, and lived with healthcare workers, the old adage often comes back to ‘pain is what the patient feels’ - scientifically completely immeasurable and unquantifiable due to the range of things involved. How often is a simple pain more scary in that we don’t fully understand how or why - reflective pain, the effect of placebos, deferred pain, the effects of stress… This simple little book though is so clever in its illustrations and explanations - even referenced which is always helpful. Despite having carried out basic searches on all kinds of neuroscience topics, the notion of neurotags completely blew my mind, and I can now imagine trying to calm a bit of hypochondria with thought of this pathway. Nobody ever wants to see family and friends suffer, so maybe this might be a good purchase to help too

[Karina Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pain is really strange : 4,5 estrellas.

Otra entrega de esta novela gráfica, que hace mini revisiones bibliográficas sobre temas interesantes, y los explica de una forma didáctica y entretenida. Esta vez el tópico elegido fue el dolor y se abarcaron cuestiones muy amplias, desde su definición hasta qué hacer para tolerarlo un poco mejor.
En particular, este libro me gustó más que el anterior (Trauma is Really Strange), porque creo que se habla mucho más sobre Neuroanatomía y Neurofisiología, y básicamente a mí me encanta neuro. Incluso me gustaron más las ilustraciones y los diseños, pero también puede que ya no esté siendo objetiva.
Al igual que en el tema anterior, la información siempre está basada en distintos autores, científicos y en estudios, que además involucran puntos de vista de varias ciencias o culturas a lo largo del tiempo.
Es probable que lo más interesante que se resalta sea que la capacidad de poder entender cómo funciona el dolor nos permite reconocerlo y que podemos buscar estrategias para no tener que padecerlo con tanta gravedad como a veces sucede.

Así y todo, a mí me gustó la parte de la fisiología (¡Neuro rules!).

Muy interesante y entretenido. Súper recomendable.

[Zoë Jackson-Newbold · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had pain for as long as I can remember and have seen many different medics, including several pain specialists, in the last few years. This book pieced together all the different bits of information that I've been given on how pain works and living well with chronic pain in an accessible way. I'll definitely be lending it to friends.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you suffer from chronic pain, arthritis pain, etc, this might be a groundbreaking book for you. I think I paid $12 for it on Amazon. It changed my view of where pain comes from, what it means and how complex the entire pain syndrome is. Best of all, there is hope in what is called neuroplasticity. We can actually have an impact on pain signals and how we interpret them which can affect our brain and how it learns. I will read this again and again and read more about this theme. It is cleverly illustrated and lighthearted. I am working with imagery and not being so controlled by pain and I know it is helping me.

[Laura Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

really wonderful book that is transformative in understanding pain. only marking it down a star as 1. there is no mention at all of period pain, which is think is very important and 2. it could have been more carefully written from a grammar perspective.

[M. Jane Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book might be even better than the Trauma is Really Strange book... it really challenges you to re-examine your relationship with chronic pain.

Highlights, for me:

“Pain is your brain telling you it thinks something is dangerous.” Steve Haines

“Your perception of reality is created by neurone… but reality is a tricky business.” Steve Haines

“Pain grabs attention and changes behaviour only when the brain identifies danger.” Steve Haines

“If we have lots of danger signals we learn to amplify danger. Our nervous system becomes sensitized.” Steve Haines

“If we have lots of good news we get better at processing good news.” Steve Haines

PAIN IS A HABIT <—this, to me, is a REVOLUTIONARY thought.

[Aishling O'Neill · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I’m just suppose to think all the happy thoughts and I’ll be cured of my pain? Just visualise yourself throwing that ball for your dog and it’ll happen! Well I done that before and my back went into spasm. Thanks but I’ll pass. I’m giving it two stars cos at least it wasn’t anti meds but overall this isn’t anything new or I haven’t heard before and it’s just not helpful to everyone. As someone who is chronically ill and in pain every single day none of the “tips” are gonna help me and actually made me feel bad for a moment cos I couldn’t “think” or “practice” away the pain. I would have also like to see some resources or links, lists of books or info at the end?

Yeah it just wasn’t for me.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good overview for someone wanting to understand how pain works better. It touches just slightly on how to help people cope with a heal from chronic pain. I feel like the purpose of the book is just to start people on their path of healing or to help caregivers understand those they care for who struggle with chronic pain. It's up to the individual to work on retraining their brains and the body's response to perceived pain. It touches on neuroscience and the way pain can be managed through the brain's neuroplasticity.

[Alienor]

The drawings are wonderful, but the way the subject is introduced and explained is confusing and repetitive, unfortunately. Why explain something with images and then an almost unrelated thing underneath in red captions, and split in 2? Life-altering info is made to look like footnotes! Also, ‘Brian’ is not brain.

The information and the visuals are great. The way it’s presented, not so much - weird, huh?

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic read. I had recently listened to a podcast about chronic pain and found it difficult to understand. This put that in perspective. "Oh that's what they were trying to say!" This is very educational and interesting from a history of medicine view as well.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's something really strange - a 30 minute-read comic about the most recent findings on pain, is among the most profound things I've read this year. As a chronic pain sufferer myself, I think this is an essential primer for anyone in my shoes. I feel better already - or at least, better about feeling bad.

[Carol Tilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be a 5 if the bibliography we're included.

[Rowen H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "___ Is Really Strange" books are such fantastic resources.

[Larakaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focuses on chronic pain. Good explanations.

[Jacob Harada · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent primer on pain science. It makes the complexities of central sensitization, neuroception and neurotags accessible. I read it as a refresher, having already been educated on this material but was given in the reading a fresh sense of agency in my own chronic pain challenge. This is very important material for anyone who has been in pain for a long time and feels the exasperation of being let down by the methods mainstream uses to treat chronic pain.

[Hattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful, well researched, cleverly illustrated and written in a way that helps explain a complex, often elusive idea in relatively simple terms. I've suffered from 'regional-complex-pain-syndrome' for three years now, a diagnosis that seems super intense but is really just the name for conditions the specialists don't quite know what to do with. I've been to nerve specialists, doctors, cranial osteopaths, physios - you name it who have tried to put a name to what I'm experiencing, they don't understand why I have pain but noone's made an effort to even explain how it happens or what pain really is.

This book; recommended by the current specialist I'm seeing, is brilliant. For the first time since I was diagnosed, I finally have a clue on what's going on in my body. That pain isn't a central receptor but a response, a memory, an emotion. It pushes aside and dispels the myths that are constantly circulated in society - that pain is due to an injury; something that constantly aggravated me as I'm turned away by medical professionals because 'there's no sign of injury' and refused medical insurance payout. *Pain is really strange* explains that chronic pain isn't simply a sign of a problem but almost a disease in it's own right. The book not only describes the scientific process at the molecular level that researchers believe is the cause of pain but also discusses other impacts on our body. It reminds us, reminded me, that it's not my fault I'm in pain and that it isn't something I've made up either - rather that it's a genuine condition that doesn't mean I'm broken but is simply an 'injury' itself that can be overcome.

Finally, the book gives some practical ways to help you rid yourself of pain; physical but especially mental things that medical specialists never seem to suggest.

This book really helped me. The pictures are fun and help to explain the sometimes-complicated wording, but never feel patronising or 'kiddish.' I'd give the book 5 stars but there were some bits that went over my head and felt a little too sciency for my liking but it could well be that I'm really tired and uncomprehending. All in all, an excellent read that has made me feel a lot better about my condition than I did this morning.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the Anxiety and Trauma books in this series I decided to pick up the Pain one. Now, as comics and chronic pain are the primary intersection of my academic studies, I know I'm bound to be more critical of this book than the others but I found a few aspects problematic on multiple levels.

Haines' writing is clear and he is definintly knowledgable, capable of diluting complex theories into a single speech bubble. However, therein lies the problem: the information (presumably written for the layman) comes off as more juvenile and condescending than anything (ex. "Yowser" 3, "Wow" 17). It borders on reductionist at many points, which is perhaps understandable given the brevity of the book, but even the footnotes are needlessly weakened by stylistic/editorial choices (ex. he takes Lorimer Moseley's term "neurosignature" and co-opted it to his own "neuro-tag" offering no logic as to why he makes the change—if it was a matter of the length of word fitting into tiny panels, one would think neuro-sig would have sufficed and seemed like a less arbitrary change).

As is common, he ends with a few pages of "tips" to help with (understanding) pain. Among them he suggests that the metaphors of pain need to be adapted; changing our language of pain will help us manage the pain better. Yet, he oversimplifies, stating that "chronic pain [...] is like a very bad habit," (3) a claim shown alongside a cartoon of a man smoking. The implicit statement of the image and text there contradict his whole let's change our language! argument as he tells the reader not to externalize chronic pain or blame oneself for it.

The generalizations and lack of grounded claims left me feeling dissatisfied with Haines' text but the illustrations by Sophie Standing are beautiful as ever, making this an interesting read from that perspective at least.

[bermudianabroad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thought this might a bite-size graphic account in the vein of The Body Keeps the Score; so my fault for hoping it was something it wasn’t. Some interesting points, but repetitive delivery. I’m not sure what I took away from it in the way of insight. Not much- alarming to find out for a time it was thought pain wasn’t something infants could feel, which is wild. Round of applause for reiterating the fact that the adage that pain is ‘all in one’s head’ isn’t helpful for sufferers of chronic pain, but then this is undone a few pages later with some pat ‘positive re-framing’ exercises. Like visualising oneself performing tasks before doing them, in order to reduce the impact of pain. Or something. A bit… tone deaf I suppose.

[Melanie Serenity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite sure how you’re supposed to imagine painful movement as joyful, I kinda feel if you’re gonna write even a short book on this subject you should really include some practical suggestions for ways to implement these changes, otherwise it just feels like saying ‘you could feel better if you just decided you wanted to but I won’t tell you how to do that.’

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could of been really cool. The concept is good and the art really is beautiful, but unfortunately I don't think it was executed that well. The information wasn't structured effectively, I struggled with the tiny footnotes, and it ended rather abruptly with no real conclusion.

[Lucija · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! I learned really a lot and really enjoyed reading it! This is a really short graphic book, but it's really cool and fun!

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting but honestly it felt more like youtube video info rather than something you'd want to be reading yourself

[Aurora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked this less than the other books in the series. I often got bored/my eyes would glaze over at the text. I feel like it was trying to treat a very complex subject as very “one size fits all.”

[timber rose, book witch (semi-hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

simply wonderful. it felt like a slightly longer and more colorful brochure. very accessible and wonderfully cited for further reading. would recommend this to anyone who has chronic pain or who wants a solid, scientific explanation on how to interact more mindfully with their body and/or healing. for those with proprioception or interoception issues (my neurodivergent baddies<3), it mentions the words and functions but doesn't quite touch on the potential differences. i still think it's a solid start for getting comfortable with what that terminology can do for you regardless.

[Morag Forbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read with a lot packed in. The illustrations are perfect. It’s a really good introduction to beginning to consider why we feel pain, particularly chronic pain. It was interesting to differentiate the bodies responses to acute and chronic pain. Why we do we continue to feel pain even when the underlying cause has healed?
However it is entry level and glosses over a lot of the complexities of chronic pain. It also gave a couple of examples of pain experiences at the start of the book and then never went onto explain them.

[Déa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un petit livre court (70 pages) avec des dessins vraiment clair.
C’est une introduction à ce qu’est la douleur. Comment la définir, la prendre en compte ?
Ça ne donne pas de solution toute faite mais j’ai aimer découvrir des infos sur le corps et la douleur en général. Un sujet passionnant et complexe, qui ne peut pas être couvert sur un livre aussi court mais les informations sont très intéressantes !

[Lenore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazingly clear - to a layperson - explanation of the neurobiology of chronic pain. I found it enormously helpful in understanding the advice often given on steps to alter one’s perception of the signals sent by the over-sensitized brain.