Chronic illness
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To improve understanding of the sources of frustration for people with chronic pain and consider the potential influence of frustration on the chronic pain experience and relationships with health professionals. ⋯ If patients think that their pain is not being believed this is clearly a barrier to an effective consultation. Communication with chronic pain patients may improve if the frustration of living with an invisible, debilitating condition that is hard to diagnose and treat is explicitly (and perhaps repeatedly) acknowledged by the health professional.
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This paper reports finding from a study that focused on people living with chronic pain, chronicling their experiences of pain and emotional distress, and their social and personal narratives. ⋯ Narratological distress is the internal battle between two unwanted narratives: The elusive delegitimizing narrative of denial, which seeks to ignore the experience of pain; and the narrative that acknowledges the pain, but with the price of accepting oneself as "ill" or "disabled."