The content of this article may be triggering for some. Reader’s discretion is advised.
In the mid-1990s, model and actress Karen Duffy had a contract with Revlon, a spot on People magazine’s list of the most beautiful people in the world and a date with actor George Clooney to the Emmy Awards. She also had a persistent, piercing headache that prompted her to see her physician.
Duffy was diagnosed with sarcoidosis of the central nervous system, an inflammatory disease in which the immune system creates lesions. Since then, Duffy has had these lesions form on her brain, central nervous system and lungs. In her book on dealing with chronic pain (CP), she writes of how she initially hoped that treatment would bring her body and life back to normal. The pain, however, has been endless and something she has had to confront continuously.
Sadly, many CP patients do not feel they can live with their ongoing agony. According to a 2009 study in the journal Pain Medicine, CP patients have a higher rate of suicide compared with people who have short-term pain or those who are pain-free. Clinicians struggle to classify CP; some scientists say pain management has been overlooked for too long.
