psychosomatic responses

Why is it that every time I sit down to write, I get really, really tired? I was going to write about pain today, but.....that hasn't worked out. I don't even know where to start! It's such a complex ordeal. On the surface, pain seems like it's just some sensory cells telling the brain that there is an injury. Great! but then when you start studying it, you have to read about how there are various types of these "nociceptors" (pain neurons). Some have myelinated axons with narrow diameters while others have nonmyelinated axons with narrow diameters, and we can't forget the ones with wide axonal diameters. Have you ever noticed how there are multiple sensations of pain--and they are different types of pain--that occur in one incident of injury? There's the initial, ahhh-what's-going-on!!!!-move-your-hand pain, and then there's the throbbing, sentimental, I-told-you-not-to-try-using-the-curling-iron-on-the-cat's-tail pain. It's because the different types of axons send the signals differently! I could spend my lifetime talking about different types of nociceptors and the pain pathways from the stimulus to the brain, but i don't want to! I want to talk about hypnosis as a method of pain management, but i've put so much time in trying to understand what this thing called pain is that I can't waste my work! I think that having an overall understanding of the picture of pain sensation and perception (see, even those two things are completely distinct areas of pain research and inquiry) will be good and perhaps even necessary to talk about how hypnosis could be beneficial. I just have to figure out how....
In the meantime...i really am tired.

Part I

I emailed "Part I" of my project to my reader last night at 2 am--two weeks later than I was hoping. They say that it isn't helpful to think about that. They are probably right. This portion of my project was an attempt to ground the reader in an understanding of hypnosis as an acceptable method of managing chronic pain. Next, i am going to try to do a runthrough of the basic basic model of pain.

Mrs. E

Here's a story for you; it comes from a book by Hildgard and Hilgard called, Hypnosis in the relief of pain (1975):
Mrs. E suffered from terminal breast cancer that had metastasized into the bone of her right arm and hand. She described the pain in her arm as “terrible,” and reported that on most days the pain forced her to take codeine every three to four hours, and it was then only effective in taking off the edge. Her constant pain was a perpetual reminder of her terminal illness. Left in this state, Mrs. E was unable to truly live during what she knew to be her last months of life. She was depressed and unable to enjoy even the simple things that had previously filled her life, like her family and friends, reading, or relaxing at the beach.
Mrs. E was referred to Ernest Hilgard for therapy involving hypnosis. Once induced into a state of hypnosis using imagery related to her positive experiences at the ocean, she was able to use the suggested analgesic technique to completely remove the pain in her arm. Before being instructed to wake from hypnosis, Mrs. E was told that she would retain a mild discomfort in her right arm—just enough to serve as a warning not to overdo any activity. In addition, she was instructed that she would retain the freeing and pleasant feelings associated with her idyllic time at the beach.
For the remainder of that day, she reported not needing any more codeine; in fact, after this point, an overall reduction in usage of pain medication continued. As treatment continued, Mrs. E was also taught a suggestion technique that helped her sleep through the night. Although Mrs. E eventually passed away, her therapy not only helped to reduce the pain in her arm, it greatly improved her overall quality of life.