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From pleasure to pain: The role of the MPQ in the language of phantom limb pain

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  • Crawford, Cassandra S.

Abstract

In opposition to the argument that pain is private, personal and unsharable, I propose that the intersubjectivity of pain is fundamental to it. Using the case of phantom limb, I show how a specific language of pain emerged and became concretized in the US circa 1975 with the advent of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Through widespread use of the MPQ, a language of pain materialized, one that was commonly used to describe the qualitative dimensions of phantom limb. After 1975, the terminology used within the medical literature was overwhelmingly consonant with the set of descriptors advanced by the MPQ. The utilization of a pain questionnaire to assess the qualitative dimensions of phantom limb effectively accentuated pain, and by 1980, what was once considered relatively rare became a common sequela of phantom manifestation.

Suggested Citation

  • Crawford, Cassandra S., 2009. "From pleasure to pain: The role of the MPQ in the language of phantom limb pain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 655-661, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:5:p:655-661
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Baszanger, Isabelle, 1989. "Pain: Its experience and treatments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 425-434, January.
    2. Vrancken, Mariet A. E., 1989. "Schools of thought on pain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 435-444, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stone, Meredith & Kokanovic, Renata, 2016. "“Halfway towards recovery”: Rehabilitating the relational self in narratives of postnatal depression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 98-106.

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