Comments on: Hard As Nails: Pain From “Injury” Entirely Psychological http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/ The official Derren Brown Blog Mon, 07 May 2012 09:24:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Jay http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50602 Jay Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:56:11 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50602 I work as a Play Specialist with kids in hospital and have done alot of work with psychological aspects of pain. We have run studies where children are given no numbing cream or spray before a cannula is inserted and are instead given a form of Top Down therapy,a therapy that focuses on taking the mind away from the pain. We get the children to sit down, close their eyes and then we talk them through a series of calming words and actions. Once they are calm we get them to keep their eyes closed and talk us through where they are in their mind through a series of open ended questions..i.e...what do you see around you?, whos with you? what are they doing? etc...the children are often so engrossed in discussing where they have gone in their imagination that 95% have no idea anything has been done to them. I work as a Play Specialist with kids in hospital and have done alot of work with psychological aspects of pain. We have run studies where children are given no numbing cream or spray before a cannula is inserted and are instead given a form of Top Down therapy,a therapy that focuses on taking the mind away from the pain. We get the children to sit down, close their eyes and then we talk them through a series of calming words and actions. Once they are calm we get them to keep their eyes closed and talk us through where they are in their mind through a series of open ended questions..i.e…what do you see around you?, whos with you? what are they doing? etc…the children are often so engrossed in discussing where they have gone in their imagination that 95% have no idea anything has been done to them.

]]> By: Lady Claire http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50601 Lady Claire Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:24:51 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50601 It's like, when you look at something you've not realised you've done, your brain then suddenly thinks, 'hang on, that should be hurting you....scream!' and therefore you do. I can think of 2 occasions where I did an injury to myself (one more severe than the other) and on neither occasion did I feel pain cos the shock etc, seemed to kick in first of all. Sort of protected me. The first was when I went flying over the handlebars of my bike, which then fell on my head. My blonde hair proceeded to change to red. But I felt no pain. The other was when I sliced my thumb at school with a knife. I had my hands in my lap after & I had no idea I'd done it. No pain again. Once I DID realise what had happened on both occasions and the reality slowly sunk in, boy, did it all hurt then!! LC x It’s like, when you look at something you’ve not realised you’ve done, your brain then suddenly thinks, ‘hang on, that should be hurting you….scream!’ and therefore you do.

I can think of 2 occasions where I did an injury to myself (one more severe than the other) and on neither occasion did I feel pain cos the shock etc, seemed to kick in first of all. Sort of protected me.
The first was when I went flying over the handlebars of my bike, which then fell on my head. My blonde hair proceeded to change to red. But I felt no pain. The other was when I sliced my thumb at school with a knife. I had my hands in my lap after & I had no idea I’d done it. No pain again.
Once I DID realise what had happened on both occasions and the reality slowly sunk in, boy, did it all hurt then!!

LC x

]]> By: Raymond http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50598 Raymond Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:32:01 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50598 Like Derren said pain is subjective. No doubt that when you step on a nail that you feel it! I did so when I was a kid and it was a small nail. But the "nocebo" effect is very much real. 3 years ago I was cutting cheese cubes for my birthday and the cheese grater slid from the cheese and hit my left thumb. It took 30 to 40 seconds to see that this cheese had this strange orange colour. I looked at my sweatshirt and it looked as if it came straight from the set of Friday the 13th. I looked at my thumb and saw it bleed like crazy I saw that I had sliced off half of the thumb nail from top to bottom. Then it started to hurt (crazy). I washed it off and then you actually feel the real nerve pain. I wrapped it up (it kept bleeding) and drove to my GP (steering with one hand). It was solved with a thick bandaid. Like Derren said pain is subjective. No doubt that when you step on a nail that you feel it!
I did so when I was a kid and it was a small nail.

But the “nocebo” effect is very much real. 3 years ago I was cutting cheese cubes for my birthday and the cheese grater slid from the cheese and hit my left thumb.

It took 30 to 40 seconds to see that this cheese had this strange orange colour. I looked at my sweatshirt and it looked as if it came straight from the set of Friday the 13th. I looked at my thumb and saw it bleed like crazy I saw that I had sliced off half of the thumb nail from top to bottom. Then it started to hurt (crazy). I washed it off and then you actually feel the real nerve pain. I wrapped it up (it kept bleeding) and drove to my GP (steering with one hand). It was solved with a thick bandaid.

]]> By: OtherMike http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50584 OtherMike Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:01:10 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50584 I once got my thumb crushed in a spring loaded truck towing hook thing and was in agony until I noticed that the spring didn't close it all the way and that my thumb wasn't crushed at all, at which point I just felt a small bruise. So I concluded that one component of pain is fear. It's not the only component though. This is probably also why hypnotherapists can do so much to control pain. I once got my thumb crushed in a spring loaded truck towing hook thing and was in agony until I noticed that the spring didn’t close it all the way and that my thumb wasn’t crushed at all, at which point I just felt a small bruise. So I concluded that one component of pain is fear. It’s not the only component though. This is probably also why hypnotherapists can do so much to control pain.

]]> By: Jess xxx http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50579 Jess xxx Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:47:38 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50579 That builder had better not get the idea that all pain he feels from now on is imaginary... "Hmmm, this saucepan seems to be scalding me...But hey, if I can imagine a nail through my foot, I can imagine a searing hot pain in my hand. And I'm sure that's not actually skin falling off there..." :) That builder had better not get the idea that all pain he feels from now on is imaginary…

“Hmmm, this saucepan seems to be scalding me…But hey, if I can imagine a nail through my foot, I can imagine a searing hot pain in my hand. And I’m sure that’s not actually skin falling off there…” :)

]]> By: roz http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50572 roz Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:49:31 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50572 "real imaginary pain"? is that guy running fer public office? :D “real imaginary pain”? is that guy running fer public office? :D

]]> By: Olivia http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50568 Olivia Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:21:33 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50568 That is amazing, I'm now less scared of pain. Brilliant. That is amazing, I’m now less scared of pain. Brilliant.

]]> By: Ryan http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50564 Ryan Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:51:47 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50564 I agree to a certain extent that pain can be intensified psychologically, or even be 'imagined' as this article suggests. However, it's a bit of a fleeting statement to suggest that the builder had no 'incentive to fake'. In today's society he probably thought he was onto a winner with some hefty compensation and a fortnight on the playstation! He may have genuinely thought that the nail had penetrated his foot, but maximised (or capitalised) the pain in order to make the claim more respectable... He may also have had Munchausen Syndrome!? I agree to a certain extent that pain can be intensified psychologically, or even be ‘imagined’ as this article suggests.

However, it’s a bit of a fleeting statement to suggest that the builder had no ‘incentive to fake’. In today’s society he probably thought he was onto a winner with some hefty compensation and a fortnight on the playstation! He may have genuinely thought that the nail had penetrated his foot, but maximised (or capitalised) the pain in order to make the claim more respectable… He may also have had Munchausen Syndrome!?

]]> By: LukeVanDerLinden http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50563 LukeVanDerLinden Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:47:23 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50563 We are all living inside an imagination (: We are all living inside an imagination (:

]]> By: maninalift http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/01/hard-nails-pain-injury-psychological/#comment-50561 maninalift Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:33:05 +0000 http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/?p=9369#comment-50561 ps, my odd grammar is the result of the concentration required to type on a broken keyboard :¬/ ps, my odd grammar is the result of the concentration required to type on a broken keyboard :¬/

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