Andie, you may be pleased to read this post, which I submitted to another forum. It received lukewarm response, some for, some against-which I found hard to understand.

"Good news at last. This article appeared in our local paper, The West Australian, today:
"Australia could become the first country to recognise chronic pain as a disease in its own right, giving sufferers greater credibility and access to more integral services.

Chronic pain, which affects one in five people and costs the economy about $A34.4 billion a year, is the third-most expensive health problem in Australia, but most sufferers were still seen as malingerers or drug seekers by general practitioners and busy ED staff, pain specialist Michael Cousins said yesterday.
Pain is one of the biggest health issues in Australia today-every bit as high as cancer, AIDS or coronary heart disease.
It affects a person physically, psychologically and environmentally and destroys all aspects of individual and family activities."