Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

The Language of Pain in the Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: Metaphors as a Key to Understand the Experience of Pain and a Rehabilitation Tool

Filippo Camerota
* ORCID logo ,
Rachele Mariani
ORCID logo ,
Giulia Cordiano
,
Michela Di Trani
,
Valentina Lodato
,
Alessandro Ferraris
,
Massimo Pasquini
ORCID logo ,
Claudia Celletti
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 2 June 2023 / Approved: 5 June 2023 / Online: 5 June 2023 (14:36:19 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Camerota, F.; Mariani, R.; Cordiano, G.; Di Trani, M.; Lodato, V.; Ferraris, A.; Pasquini, M.; Celletti, C. The Language of Pain in the Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome: Metaphors as a Key to Understanding the Experience of Pain and as a Rehabilitation Tool. Brain Sci. 2023, 13, 1042. Camerota, F.; Mariani, R.; Cordiano, G.; Di Trani, M.; Lodato, V.; Ferraris, A.; Pasquini, M.; Celletti, C. The Language of Pain in the Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome: Metaphors as a Key to Understanding the Experience of Pain and as a Rehabilitation Tool. Brain Sci. 2023, 13, 1042.

Abstract

Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) are a heterogeneous group of heritable connective tissue disorders (HCTDs) characterized by joint hypermobility, skin hyperextensibility, and tissue fragility. Among the different types, the hypermobile EDS (hEDS) is the most frequent, and includes generalized joint hypermobility as the major diagnostic criterion. Joint hypermobility in hEDS is often associated with pain that not always allow the use of effective pain-reducing treatments. Patients with hEDS always talk about pain using a lot of descriptions. Eighty-nine patients with diagnosis of hEDS were recruited and evaluated. They were asked to write down what grief was to them. The texts were analyzed through LIWC. Correlational analyses were conducted between pain perception and language. A comparison of high/low pain perception and quality of metaphors was carried out. The results showed, depending on the level of pain perception, different language quality is evidenced. The greater the pain the lesser the positive effects and the greater the negative effects and dehumanizing metaphors. Moreover, greater pain seems to be related to a verbal experience of greater isolation and less self-care. In conclusion, the use of metaphors is a useful tool for exploring illness experience and may help clinicians in the rehabilitation program.

Keywords

Chronic Pain; Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome; Linguistic content analysis; Metaphors; Pain; Symbolizing process

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Clinical Medicine

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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