Hi usedtobe,

I actually had the same initial reaction as you did. After rereading the article posted, I'm not so sure my first thoughts were correct. I've had many of the same experiences you have...the "it's all in your head" and "you could get better if you want to" crap. It's terrible, almost more harmful than RSD itself, isn't it? But the others who responded explained the article differently, and if they interpreted it correctly, then it does not mean what I first believed.

I'm still not sure I like the idea it poses---of a medication that will essentially make you not care about the pain. I'd rather find something to make the pain actually go away! It seems like taking an easy way out, kind of. One would get to essentially skip all of the hardship. I personally don't think that I can benefit from this type of treatment, because after 12 years I've come to terms with this disease and have found things that it can't take away from me. But if it really works, maybe it can help someone continue on with his or her life despite having pain. In my mind, it just kind of skips that transformative time, in which I had to figure out how to function in life.

To me, the real question to ask is whether there's any benefit to the long road? To get all existential, is suffering necessary to the human experience? Does removing that from the equation mean that we will miss something that would otherwise have bettered our minds or spirits? I don't know. I believe that some suffering is necessary in life, but this kind of suffering is probably beyond the kind that can do any good.

I have to quit this philosophy crap...

-Betsy