Airing Pain

What is mental defeat and does it have an impact on the experiences of those living with pain?     In this edition of Airing Pain, Paul Evans interviews the team at the Warwick Study of Mental Defeat in Chronic Pain (WITHIN Project) and research participants, as well as taking part in the study as a participant himself.  The study, which runs until May 2023, is investigating how mental defeat can influence pain sensation, sleep patterns, social activity, physical activity and the general health of individuals who have chronic pain. Mental defeat is defined as the perceived loss of autonomy in the face of uncontrollable, traumatic events. In the context of chronic pain this can be explained as a loss of identity and self in relation to repeated episodes of pain. Paul talks to the team about their experimental, lab-based study and the sleep-tracking survey, then undergoes the lab experiment himself. He discusses how he found it, the possible outcomes of the research and also interviews other participants