The Gift of Pain by Paul Brand
Why We Hurt and What We Can Do About It
Legendary leprosy doctor Paul Brand explains that while pain is not pleasant it is necessary. It is a gift without which our world would be ugly indeed.
The title of Paul Brand’s book, The Gift of Pain, sounds like a bad joke. However, the title should at least pique the curiosity of those who have the desire to understand the nature and purpose of pain.
The Gift of Pain: Why We Hurt and What We Can Do About It is the third book that Paul Brand wrote with the help of renowned Christian author Philip Yancey. It was originally titled Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants and was published in 1993. When it was reissued in 1997 it was given the title The Gift of Pain. Brand’s argument in the book is that we need pain to survive.
Nightmares of Painlessness
The opening chapter of Brand’s book gives a horrifying glimpse into painlessness. He introduces us to Tanya who was born with a disease, known as “congenital indifference to pain,” which does not allow her body to recognize pain. As a result, she has destroyed her body because she does not take care of it. Her mother first realized something was wrong with her child when she discovered that her eighteen month old had gnawed the ends of her fingers off and was using the mangled tips to draw red pictures in her room.
Unable to judge what would damage her based on the pain signals her body gave her; Tanya destroyed her body. While Tanya represents a rare and extreme example of the results of painlessness, Brand’s years as a leprosy doctor gave him endless examples of the damage caused by the inability to feel pain.
Painless in America
American’s are likely to wonder what a rare disease and leprosy have to do with them and their issues with pain. However, Brand points out that diabetes, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, nerve disorders, and spinal cord injuries can cause similar dangerous insensitivity to pain.
A Memoir about Pain
Brand’s style of writing is conversational and personal. After an introduction to the subject of pain and an explanation as to why the subject matters to him, Brand explains his approach in the book.
His understanding of pain developed over many years and grew out of his work. As a result, he felt that a memoir “with all its loops and detours” was an appropriate format for his thoughts on pain because that is “how I learned about pain: not systematically, but experientially...The scenes I will relate from my early life, random, seemingly disconnected like all memories of early life, eventually contributed to a whole new outlook.” (12)
Protective Pain
Approximately two-thirds of the way through the 331 pages of this book, Brand gives an example of how pain rewards us. He describes working on a project to create a substitute nervous system that would teach those who had no pain how to protect their bodies by allowing them to experience danger signals like a normally functioning body does.
From his studies and observation, he learned that a person who never feels pain is task-oriented and willing to destroy a limb to finish a project. However, a person who feels pain will stop when a limb is in danger because “no matter how much he wants to do something, [he] will stop for pain, because deep in his psyche he knows that preserving his own self is more significant than anything he might want to do.” (194) Pain is the gift of self-preservation.
After more than five years and millions of dollars in government funds, Brand and his colleagues had to admit that they couldn’t create a nervous system that would protect the body as well as pain would.
A Painless Read
While the subject matter is pain and some of the examples Brand shares are horrific, his book is not difficult to read and will certainly challenge one to consider the source and reason for pain before they open the cabinet and get an aspirin or go to the doctor asking for yet another cortisone injection.
Brand, Dr Paul and Yancey, Philip. The Gift of Pain: Why We Hurt and What We Can Do About It. Zondervan Publishing House, 1993. ISBN 0-310-22144-7
