Chronic pain has been correctly described as the invisible crisis at the heart of contemporary life. Despite stunning advances in other areas of medical science, no similar breakthrough in the treatment of chronic pain has resulted from an exclusive focus on the body. Dr James Alexander’s young life was redefined by a tragic car accident in his late teens, and the chronic physical and emotional trauma inspired him to become a psychologist. Now pain-free, Dr Alexander has dedicated the last three decades of his life to helping others overcome similar challenges, specializing in the treatment of chronic pain and psychological trauma. His success is proof that recovery from chronic pain is possible, and this guide offers a valuable resource for working toward that goal. The recovery from chronic pain requires that we revisit and challenge the outdated attitudes and practices that have been used with little result. With the proliferation of medical and psychological research, for the first time we are at a point in history where these notions of pain recovery can be validated by research-based evidence. For too long, Dr Alexander feels, we have been looking in all the wrong places. Specifically, the problem lies at the core of our culture, which still treats the physical and nonphysical aspects of the human as separate experiences. This innovative program involves a journey of self-discovery, a new way to approach medical and psychological care of chronic pain, and advice on the most effective types of help to pursue.

A revolutionary approach to dealing with life's challenges that guides readers in how to face them and to recognize them as gifts from God. At one time or another everyone finds themselves questioning, "Does God still love me? Is there a purpose for all this pain?" Drs. Meier and Henderson teach readers how to face painful struggles head-on in a way that allows them to grow and mature emotionally and spiritually. In this timely book they explore the seven most common life challenges: Injustice Rejection Loneliness Loss Discipline Failure Death In addition they offer the three reasons we often miss the gifts these challenges can be. This unique approach to an age-old problem will encourage and challenge readers to grow through their struggles instead of wasting energy trying to avoid them altogether.

Raised in the sweltering savannas of Zimbabwe, Thando leads a typical life for a middle-class African girl. She attends school and church. She loves American television shows and American music. Thando lives in a happy household with a wonderful family, and has never wanted for love. But Thando holds a dark secret in her heart. For most of her life, God has hidden away these memories, locked them inside her until the day she was strong enough to bear them again... A true story of loss and hardship, of hope and rebirth. After years of abuse at the hands of men she should have been able to trust, Thando uses her bleak history to bring hope and healing to others.

To a sadist there are no rules, no restrictions. There is just the pain. Eighteen year old Alexander Burton has just begun his first Formula One racing season. His carefree life comes to an abrupt halt when he literally runs into the sexiest domineering man he has ever laid his eyes on. Gray Victore, the twenty six year old billionaire businessman, who has control over the sponsorship money to most of the F1 teams, is feared for a reason. The moment Alex looked into Gray's black eyes, he saw something in them that made his entire being submit to his dominance and power. Not understanding the pull this arrogant homophobic bully has over him confuses Alexander and makes him open his mind to the possibility of entering into a very different relationship with the sexy blond. They are bound to each other in a way no one else could ever understand, and enjoy a sexual partnership that most would believe to be torture, but together they work.

From Hidden Pain To Freedom is an emotional depiction of the life of Tia. It is powerful story of survival against all odds. A little girl caught up in a world of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Tia, full of life and optimism only to have that shattered by the rejection of her mother; the constant emotional and physical abuse of her grandmother and relentless sexual abuse of her uncle. The setting takes place in the inner-city projects of Ohio where she resides with her grandmother because her mom chose the company of men over her children. There, she quickly realizes how cold and cruel the world could really be. Gaining strength from within, she grows up to overcome her pain to new found freedom.

In Black Suffering, James Henry Harris explores the nexus of injustices, privations, and pains that contribute to the daily suffering seen and felt in the lives of Black folks. This suffering is so normalized in American life that it often goes unnoticed, unseen, and even--more often--purposely ignored. The reality of Black suffering is both omnipresent and complicated--both a reaction to and a result of the reality of white supremacy, its psychological and historical legacy, and its many insidious and fractured expressions within contemporary culture. Because Black suffering is so wholly disregarded, it must be named, discussed, and analyzed. Black Suffering articulates suffering as an everyday reality of Black life. Harris names suffering's many manifestations, both in history and in the present moment, and provides a unique portrait of the ways Black suffering has been understood by others. Drawing on decades of personal experience as a pastor, theologian, and educator, Harris gives voice to suffering's practical impact on church leaders as they seek to forge a path forward to address this huge and troubling issue. Black Suffering is both a mixtape and a call to consciousness, a work that identifies Black suffering, shines a light on the insidious normalization of the phenomenon, and begins a larger conversation about correcting the historical weight of suffering carried by Black people. The book combines elements of memoir, philosophy, historical analysis, literary criticism, sermonic discourse, and even creative nonfiction to present a "remix" of the suffering experienced daily by Black people.

An exploration of why people all over the world love to engage in pain on purpose--from dominatrices, religious ascetics, and ultramarathoners to ballerinas, icy ocean bathers, and sideshow performers Masochism is sexy, human, reviled, worshipped, and can be delightfully bizarre. Deliberate and consensual pain has been with us for millennia, encompassing everyone from Black Plague flagellants to ballerinas dancing on broken bones to competitive eaters choking down hot peppers while they cry. Masochism is a part of us. It lives inside workaholics, tattoo enthusiasts, and all manner of garden variety pain-seekers. At its core, masochism is about feeling bad, then better—a phenomenon that is long overdue for a heartfelt and hilarious investigation. And Leigh Cowart would know: they are not just a researcher and science writer—they’re an inveterate, high-sensation seeking masochist. And they have a few questions: Why do people engage in masochism? What are the benefits and the costs? And what does masochism have to say about the human experience? By participating in many of these activities themselves, and through conversations with psychologists, fellow scientists, and people who seek pain for pleasure, Cowart unveils how our minds and bodies find meaning and relief in pain—a quirk in our programming that drives discipline and innovation even as it threatens to swallow us whole.

Strengthen all the muscles that support your spine—and free yourself from back pain without surgery! Most of what you’ve been told about back pain is completely wrong. Now, for the first time, Dr. Patrick Roth shares his groundbreaking and highly effective plan to alleviate back pain. His progressive and innovative approach will reveal how: Back pain sometimes has little to do with the back. Pain medications can cause more pain. Weight loss does not improve back pain. You know your body best—even better than your doctor. This back-strengthening program goes far beyond traditional abdominal core work to strategically target your “hidden core,” including all the vital front, side, and back muscles that line, stabilize, and support the spine. Dr. Roth empowers your body and mind to remarkably decrease the frequency, intensity, and duration of back pain, giving you true and lasting relief. “A unique program that combines the body and mind in a clear, thorough, and meaningful way.” —Steven Kirshblum, M.D., medical director, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation

Why would anyone seek out the very experience the rest of us most wish to avoid? Why would religious worshipers flog or crucify themselves, sleep on spikes, hang suspended by their flesh, or walk for miles through scorching deserts with bare and bloodied feet? In this insightful new book, Ariel Glucklich argues that the experience of ritual pain, far from being a form of a madness or superstition, contains a hidden rationality and can bring about a profound transformation of the consciousness and identity of the spiritual seeker. Steering a course between purely cultural and purely biological explanations, Glucklich approaches sacred pain from the perspective of the practitioner to fully examine the psychological and spiritual effects of self-hurting. He discusses the scientific understanding of pain, drawing on research in fields such as neuropsychology and neurology. He also ranges over a broad spectrum of historical and cultural contexts, showing the many ways mystics, saints, pilgrims, mourners, shamans, Taoists, Muslims, Hindus, Native Americans, and indeed members of virtually every religion have used pain to achieve a greater identification with God. He examines how pain has served as a punishment for sin, a cure for disease, a weapon against the body and its desires, or a means by which the ego may be transcended and spiritual sickness healed. "When pain transgresses the limits," the Muslim mystic Mizra Asadullah Ghalib is quoted as saying, "it becomes medicine." Based on extensive research and written with both empathy and critical insight, Sacred Pain explores the uncharted inner terrain of self-hurting and reveals how meaningful suffering has been used to heal the human spirit.

NPR Best Book of 2019 A bioethicist’s eloquent and riveting memoir of opioid dependence and withdrawal—a harrowing personal reckoning and clarion call for change not only for government but medicine itself, revealing the lack of crucial resources and structures to handle this insidious nationwide epidemic. Travis Rieder’s terrifying journey down the rabbit hole of opioid dependence began with a motorcycle accident in 2015. Enduring half a dozen surgeries, the drugs he received were both miraculous and essential to his recovery. But his most profound suffering came several months later when he went into acute opioid withdrawal while following his physician’s orders. Over the course of four excruciating weeks, Rieder learned what it means to be “dope sick”—the physical and mental agony caused by opioid dependence. Clueless how to manage his opioid taper, Travis’s doctors suggested he go back on the drugs and try again later. Yet returning to pills out of fear of withdrawal is one route to full-blown addiction. Instead, Rieder continued the painful process of weaning himself. Rieder’s experience exposes a dark secret of American pain management: a healthcare system so conflicted about opioids, and so inept at managing them, that the crisis currently facing us is both unsurprising and inevitable. As he recounts his story, Rieder provides a fascinating look at the history of these drugs first invented in the 1800s, changing attitudes about pain management over the following decades, and the implementation of the pain scale at the beginning of the twenty-first century. He explores both the science of addiction and the systemic and cultural barriers we must overcome if we are to address the problem effectively in the contemporary American healthcare system. In Pain is not only a gripping personal account of dependence, but a groundbreaking exploration of the intractable causes of America’s opioid problem and their implications for resolving the crisis. Rieder makes clear that the opioid crisis exists against a backdrop of real, debilitating pain—and that anyone can fall victim to this epidemic.