Product Description
"This is a personal narrative, a record of my passage among victims of chronic pain and the discoveries that have come from those encounters. I write for physicians, nurses, therapists, and caregivers, but mostly, I write for you who suffer the disease. I know you very well, perhaps as well as anybody in the world. I have listened to your stories with patience and attention, and I have been greatly rewarded. You have trusted me with the deep recesses of your thoughts and fears, and the memories of the dreadful experiences that are so often the origin of chronic pain. I have treated thousands of you and I believe I have some understanding of your illness. I offer a series of essays about people like you who suffer chronic pain. From their case histories, I derive certain conclusions. Some conclusions are bold and imaginative. Some are disturbing and frightful. Not all of them will apply to you, but some certainly will. My wish is that you gain greater understanding of your illness, for only understanding it will you conquer it." Robert T. Cochran Jr., MD

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 16 reviews)

A Man Who Knows What He Is Talking About by Wanda Gant (TN)

5 Stars
April 21, 2009
I met Dr. Cochran several years ago, after going to many doctors all my life, and he was the only one to be able to help me. He is presently one of three doctors listed in TN for the Fibromyalgia Association of the US which is a growing concern only recognized the last several years but I have had at least since age 9. I am impressed with all his learning, experience and willingness to share with the public his knowledge that will make the public aware about pain and that there is help - if you are willing to accept it. After reading his book[s] I don't feel so bad about myself since it makes one understand what I never understood before. He gives one hope. His first book is good and leads up to making his second book even better. I recommend that one read both of them. The man acknowledges that he never quits caring, learning and sharing with the hopes for mankind that there is help.

as one living with chronic pain by Wanda Mourningfawn (tennessee)

5 Stars
April 07, 2009
this book is a must read for any one who lives with chronic pain. this is the second book i have read by dr. cochran. if he writes a third i will read it as well. i am not that much for reading, the thing is he is just all that as an author. his unusual approach to the understanding and treatment of chronic pain is ahead of it's time. this book is an easy read, and i can relate to so much of it. he is a leader in the field. his outlook and additude has helped mine. his understanding has given me an understanding that has helped me not only to cope with my chronic pain but to thrive with it.

chronic pain by Tinker (MA)

3 Stars
May 20, 2008
I think the doctor here is being practical the only thing doctor's have to offer for the most part is medicine and mostly everything else is temporary anyway. This doctor had the compassion to write a book about pain that the average reader could understand. It takes alot of time to write a book and I, for one, appreciate his efforts.

A doc who listens, cares and thinks; yet questions remain for everyone by N. Pazderic (Seattle, WA USA)

4 Stars
November 13, 2006
From this book I learned much about the pharmacology of pain management. There are remedies for chronic pain, and Dr. Cochran provides examples of his practice to show that there is hope. The book also indirectly asks the reader, especially the person in pain, to examine themselves (their pain and health) along the way. While the book took me through the trials of both patient and doctor, I found the most useful insights of the book concerned, perhaps ironically, the idea of wellness. In particular, Dr. Cochran writes about a state of intense engagement and satisfaction, which he calls "type two mania"-- in opposition to the mania associated with manic-depression. For a doctor to have a clear idea of health no doubt makes his choice of treatments much more profound and effective than that of those who simply fear that patients will fall into a pattern of abuse and deterioration. Dr. Cochran believes people will try to do good things, provided they are relatively free of pain. The mania of wellness is a delicate thing. For many the conditions of their lives do not allow them the ability to pursue the intense pleasures associated with work dedicated to quality and lives given to excellence. For others it is the conditions of their bodies that bring their efforts to painful, unfinished ends. For many, a combination of unfortunate circumstances and crippling pain makes the type of health promoted and practiced by Dr. Cochran difficult, if not impossible, to realize. Dr. Cochran works like a Freudian trained in neurophysiology. In doing so, he discovers patterns of abuse, often forgotten or repressed, that partially account for the suffering of his patients. Pain, in Dr. Cochran's model, is situated in the brain. The brain creates and sustains pain to the point that it becomes a pattern. Pain medication breaks the patterns and provides relief. In many cases, the neuropsychological causes cannot be found or addressed completely. Dr. Cochran honestly reveals his difficulties. His narratives frequently trail off at such points, and the reader can hear, in the silences, the doctor wondering. Of a piece with these lost narratives is the story of the social conditions of health care in America itself. Therapeutic individualism can only partially mask the fact that 40 million people are without health insurance in the richest country in the world. How many people rely on the tranquilizers of common people: cigarettes, booze and God? (In keeping with his narrative style in which difficult questions are at times asked but unanswered, Dr. Cochran references God in the concluding pages-- an oblique and haunting reference, I think, to the fact that God has been and continues to be the only available opiate for those who suffer without access to proper medications). This criticism does not mean to detract from Dr. Cochran's work. In fact, history shows that what becomes normal for the rich, one day becomes the custom of the ordinary for good and bad. But it does not come easy. I certainly recommend this book to chronic pain sufferers, social scientists interested in the practice of medicine, and to physicians who struggle with the delicate issue of prescribing controlled substances.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired? by Martha Bryce (Kentucky)

5 Stars
April 28, 2006
If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, please read Dr. Robert T. Cochran Jr's book, Understanding Chronic Pain: A Doctor Talks To His Patients. I am not a medical professional; I am a 51 year old woman who has, for the past 20 years been diagnosed with painful and exhausting illnesses like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the Epstein Barr virus, Fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease that required surgery, menstrual problems, and rheumatoid arthritis. As soon as I find a way to ease the pain of one problem, another excruciating painful problem manifests. Some of you may suffer so badly that you can't hold a job. Your family and friends have had to deal with your unpredictable health, so your social life and intimate connections have dwindled to nothing. Unless your employer is incredibly flexible, you either can't hold a job or have to function under the stress of constant pain, worrying about when you'll make the mistake that will get you fired. To top it off, you really don't care because if you are out of work, at least you will be able to get enough rest. Worst of all, you may think that this is all in your mind. Let Dr. Cochran explain to you that it is all in your mind - and in your body, too. After reading this book, you will, for the first time, understand why you hurt and why you can never seem to stop the cycle of pain. You will have information that you can share with your physician that may lead to the path of a life that is not ruled by pain. I have not found the solution to my chronic pain yet, but Dr. Cochran's book has given me something that I have not had for many, many years. It has given me hope. Let it give you hope, too.

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