A malevolent force: A qualitative exploration of perceptions of changes in bodily function and sensations in complex regional pain syndrome
Two pages on PainSci cite Waring 2025: 1. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain 2. “A malevolent force”: The profound, bizarre impact of CRPS
PainSci commentary on Waring 2025: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
This qualitative research is a study without statistics or graphs: a study of stories about how it feels to live with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Analyzing survey responses from 288 participants, Waring et al. identified two dominant themes: CRPS is like "a malevolent force" and makes patients feel like they are "becoming sub-human."
Participants often described their symptoms in violent metaphors, perceiving sensory abnormalities like allodynia and temperature shifts as intrusive and uncontrollable. Many likened their condition to an external force acting against them, fostering powerlessness and emotional distress. Some reported feeling detached from affected limbs, with a few even wishing for amputation to regain autonomy.
Beyond pain, CRPS eroded participants’ ability to perform basic tasks, reinforcing isolation and dependency. Social roles, careers, and relationships suffered, and healthcare professionals’ lack of understanding amplified frustration, deterring some from seeking care.
These stories clearly show that CRPS is more than a pain disorder—it is a condition that fundamentally disrupts self-perception and quality of life. The paper amplifies the urgent need for treatments that extend beyond pain management to restore bodily agency and social reintegration. For instance, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and peer support networks could help mitigate the dehumanizing effects of CRPS.
For a more about CRPS and this study, see the early 2025 blog post “A malevolent force”: The profound, bizarre impact of CRPS.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Research has established that people with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) experience profound changes in bodily function and sensations. However, the subjective perceptions of these changes to bodily function and sensations have not yet been explored. The current investigation aimed to qualitatively explore perceptions of changes in bodily function and sensations for people living with CRPS. The study comprised a secondary analysis of qualitative responses obtained from 288 people with CRPS from an online worldwide survey. Responses to two open-ended questions regarding the experience of changes in bodily function and sensations were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Two themes were generated, ?An act of evil? and ?Becoming sub-human?. Changes in bodily function and sensations were perceived by participants as a malevolent force, described by participants as volatile and hostile in nature. Furthermore, participants felt they had become sub-human due to the loss of autonomy, social exclusion, and the inability for their body to work ?as it should.? Future research should undertake a longitudinal examination of the experience of changes in bodily function and sensations associated with living with CRPS to fully understand the long-term impact of such changes on the individual and their quality of life.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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