Publicaciones

Publicado Miércoles 7 de Mayo 2008

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Un Sacramentino pinta el dolor crónico
Por Sam McManis

Las palabras fallaron cuando el médico le preguntó a Mark Collen sobre su dolor crónico. Extraño porque Collen siempre fue un chico hablador.

Pero todos los términos descriptivos faltaron durante esa cita memorable en 1997 – "Mordaz, "" Apuñalar", "Quemar", "entumecedor"", alfileres - y - agujas" nada podía expresar completamente el dolor constante del nervio ciático de Collen.

Y cuando el doctor le preguntó dónde estaría el dolor en una escala de 0-a-10, Collen dudó: ¿Cómo un simple número podría cuantificar lo insoportable?

Sintió que lo que necesitaba era una expresión tangible para su agitación interna. Entonces quizás su doctor le comprendería. Quizás entonces, varios años después de dos cirugías, podría prescribir la correcta cantidad de analgésicos que necesitaba para vivir y funcionar normalmente.

El dolor crónico había sacado gran parte de la alegría de la vida de Collen. Su matrimonio terminó. Su carrera como vendedor para una gran empresa aseguradora terminó. Su esperanza de vivir una vida sin dolor terminó también.

"La mitad del tiempo" se acuerda Collen "estaba acostado en mi futon, pensando de qué manera me iba a matar”.

Lo que finalmente adquirió de esta terrible experiencia fue un outlet artístico. Jamás había recibido clases de arte, sin embargo Collen creó una pieza sencilla de varios materiales que simbolizaba una foto de si mismo sepultar en cinta de embalaje, excepto de un solo ojo y un poema sobre el suicidio.

Lo mostró a su médico durante la siguiente visita.

"Podía ver como sus ojos se hinchaban" dice Collen. "Comprendió. Esto funcionó. Jamás volvió a haber una pregunta en la mente de mi médico de dolor después de esto."

Una galería con alcance global

Esa primera incursión en el arte como terapia ha llevado a este hombre de 47 años de Sacramento a crear una on-line galería de arte sin ánimo de lucro, llamada www.painexhibit.com, para la que solicita imágenes de arte de otras personas que sufren dolor crónico.

En los 10 años desde que ha comenzado con el proyecto, Collen ha recibido más de 500 ejemplares de todo el mundo – muchos conmovedores, todos deliberados y, francamente dolorosos de ver.

Recientemente la web apareció en el New York Times, y las obras de arte estuvieron cada trimestre en la cubierta de la revista “Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy”. Collen, que desde aquella es todo un defensor para los pacientes con dolor crónico no-maligno, también consiguió publicar ensayos y otros papeles en las revistas médicas, como Pain Practitioner y Practical Pain Management.

Después de ver la galería, Dr. William M. Lamers escribió que "el abismo entre nuestra comprensión científica de cómo tratar el dolor y la aplicación clínica de este conocimiento sigue siendo una de las frustraciones de los cuidados de salud modernos. ... La Pain Exhibit es una declaración para el conocimiento y el mejor cuidado para aquellos que sufren."

Al principio, dice Penney Cowan, fundadora de la American Chronic Pain Association, comenzaré con un diálogo. Cowan dice que la Pain Exhibit fue tema de conversación en una convención para profesionales de la salud respecto al manejo del dolor.

"Es una manera fantástica de comunicar lo que sentimos" dice Cowan. "No se trata de lo bien que pintas o esculpes tu dolor. Es cómo interpretas tu dolor."

'Rendiciones de razonamiento'

La primera vez que uno se encuentra con Collen, aparece en buenas condiciones y en forma. Aunque camina cautelosamente, no hay ninguna cojera pronunciada. Sin embargo, en la mitad de una entrevista de 30 minutos, tiene que ponerse en pie para aliviar parte de la presión en la espalda.

"Imagina que eres un médico y me ves en tu consulta; piensas 'No. No se puede creer " dice Collen.

En otras palabras, no te prescribe analgésicos.

"Pero la gente ve mi arte y tiene una mejor idea por lo que paso" dice. "Es como dijo (el filósofo) Blaise Pascal 'Todo nuestro razonamiento termina rindiéndose a los sentimientos."

Las sensaciones dolorosas de Collen comenzaron en 1995, ocho días después de su 35 cumpleaños. Estaba en el trabajo y se agachó para levantar una caja de cartón en el asiento trasero de su coche cuando notó ese dolor inmediato. Resultó que hernió un disco y el dolor irradió por su pierna izquierda.

Luego vinieron las operaciones: una para quitar una porción del hueso alrededor del disco y otra para aliviar el tejido cicatrizado que presionaba el nervio. Ninguna, dice, ayudó de forma significativa para el dolor.

"Es impredecible" dice. "A veces estoy en cama, leyendo, y de repente es insoportable. (Pero) siempre hay cierto nivel de dolor."

Collen no niega que algunos pacientes que ingieren opioides van al médico para, como dicen los clínicos cordialmente "a comprar medicamentos." Pero opina que muchos médicos exageran y infra-tratan.

"Tienen miedo para prescribir" dice. "Una (razón) es que la DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) ha perseguido a médicos – no mucho, pero bastante para darles miedo. Y la segunda es la adicción.

"Pero hay una gran diferencia entre la dependencia física y la adicción emocional. Digamos que jamás has utilizado medicamentos en tu vida y que, después de lesionarte, te prescriben opioides. Lo que ocurre cuando dejas de tomarlos es que tu cuerpo los echará en falta. Esto es dependencia física. La adicción emocional es '¡Quiero este medicamento!' "

Con algo de autodidacta, Collen ha utilizado su propia experiencia como punto de partida para investigar en este tipo de tópicos, incluyendo la tolerancia al dolor – definida por la American Academy of Pain Medicine como "disminución de alivio del dolor, con el tiempo, con la misma dosis."

Esto ha llevó a un ensayo que escribió en 2007 que fue publicado en la revista Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy, en el que postula que los pacientes empiezan a temer a su médico para el dolor y no expresan adecuadamente su nivel del dolor.

"El miedo de perder la prescripción puede animar a los pacientes a no mencionar que su medicamento ya no está funcionando" escribe.

Catarsis mediante el arte

Collen no es tan ingenuo que piensa que su exposición online, patrocinada por el California Assembly of Local Art Agencies, organización de arte sin ánimo de lucro, suavizará físicamente el dolor de la gente.

Pero lo llama catarsis.

Algunas de las imágenes ideas son sorprendentes en su representación del dolor en sus numerosas manifestaciones.

En "Resonancia" Susan Gofstein de Chicago dibujó un auto-retrato en su MRI, menos la mayoría de su cara, para ilustrar su dolor facial crónico. Helen Tupper de Dartmouth, Canadá, expresó sus espasmos musculares crónicos mediante la visualización de la sensación como "una bola ardiente de dolor con pulsaciones envuelta en una barba de púas."

Collen incluyó varias piezas de su propio arte. Una es un pie de yeso atravesado en la planta por una docena de cuchillas de afeitar. Otra, titulada "Hola Doc, ¿Ya lo ha averiguado?" es una torre de 10 pies de alto de rayos-X. Collen dice que representa a médicos que piden "la misma prueba una y otra vez con la esperanza de comprender la causa del dolor crónico."

El más visceral – con diferencia - es "atrapado en el infierno." Una cara roja de yeso, un rictus de dolor, atravesada por tres barras de hierro.

Aunque visualmente es llamativo, la declaración de Collen sobre la pieza también es bastante ilustrativa:

"A veces mis analgésicos dejan de funcionar y el horrible dolor nervioso prevalece, destrozando mi pierna inocente. Estoy acostado en mi cama, atrapado por el dolor, siento miedo, temo que este dolor no cesará jamás, tengo miedo volverme loco.

"Grito a Dios, pidiendo clemencia. ¿Qué he hecho para merecer este destino? Me siento como un hombre inocente que está condenado. Estoy atrapado en una jaula de dolor, una jaula de hierros. No lo puedo tolerar ni un segundo más. Desesperadamente intento escaper empujando mi cara contra los barrotes, pero no lo logro, estoy atrapado en el infierno."

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Artículo cortesía de sacbee.com

Impreso en The New York Times Online el 22 de Abril de 2008

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El dolor como forma de arte
Por Tara Parker-Pope


Selecciones de Pain Exhibit. Para ver una muestra de diapositivas, haga click aquí.

El dolor no se ve en un escáner de nuestro cuerpo y no se puede medir en una prueba. El resultado es que muchos sufridores de dolor crónico se vuelven hacía el arte, optan por pintar, dibujar o esculpir imágenes intentando hacer visible su dolor.

“Es a menudo mucho más difícil expresar el dolor en palabras, y esto es uno de los grandes problemas con el dolor,'' dice Allan I. Basbaum, editor jefe de Pain, la revista médica de la Asociación Internacional para el Estudio del Dolor (“International Association for the Study of Pain”). “No lo puedes articular y no lo puedes ver. No cabe la menor duda que muchas veces la gente intenta ilustrar su dolor.''

Una de los artistas más famosos con dolor es la pintora mejicana Frida Kahlo, cuyas obras, que ahora se están exponiendo en el Philadelphia Museum of Art, están saturadas del sufrimiento que experimentó durante toda su vida después de haber sido atravesada de adolescente en un accidente de tráfico. Sus heridas dejaron la espina y pelvis hechas añicos y resultaron en múltiples operaciones y abortos, y a menudo ilustró su sufrimiento en lienzos en imágenes simples, preocupantes e incluso sangrientas.

Residente en Sacramento Mark Collen de 47 años, antes vendedor de seguros, sufre de dolor crónico de espalda. Después de que su médico habitual se retiró por enfermedad sr. Collen estuvo luchando por encontrar la manera de comunicar su dolor a un médico nuevo. A pesar de no tener formación artística, decidió crear una pieza de arte para expresar su dolor a su médico.

“No fue hasta que empecé a hacer arte sobre el dolor, y que los médicos viesen el arte que comprendieron por lo que yo estaba pasando” dijo Sr. Collen. “Las palabras limitan, pero el arte evoca una respuesta emocional. ‘‘

Sr. Collen escribió a algólogos de todo el mundo para solicitar ejemplos de arte de pacientes con dolor. Trabajando junto con el estudiante James Gregory de 21 años del Instituto de San Francisco que sufre de dolor crónico como resultado de un accidente de coche, ambos crearon Pain Exhibit, una galería de arte online de sufridores de dolor. Las imágenes son evocadoras y preocupantes.

“Algunas de ellas incluso lastiman solamente de verlas'' dijo Dr. Basbaum. En Noviembre se incluyó una imagen de la web en la cubierta de Pain; se puede ver aquí.

Para los pacientes que sufren es esencial que encuentren la manera de comunicar su dolor porque muchos de ellos no reciben el tratamiento adecuado por parte de los médicos. En enero, Virtual Mentor, la Revista de ética de la asociación Médica Americana, informó que ciertos grupos tienen menos probabilidad de recibir el cuidado adecuado para su dolor. La revista informó que, en urgencias y para las mismas heridas, los hispanos tienen la mitad de probabilidad que los blancos de recibir medicamentos para el dolor; las mujeres mayores de color tienen la mayor probabilidad de ser infra-tratadas por el dolor de cáncer y la falta de educación es un factor de riesgo para un mal cuidado de dolor en los pacientes con SIDA.

Algunas de las imágenes de Pain Exhibit, como "Personas rotas" de Robert S. Beal de Tulsa, Okla., retratan el lado físico del dolor. Otros como "Contra la barrera de la vida," expresan los desafíos emocionales del dolor crónico. "Me siento como si estuviese constantemente luchando contra un maremoto de dolor para conseguir un poco de calidad de vida" escribió la creadora de la obra, Judith Ann Seabrook de Happy Valley en Australia del Sur. "Corro peligro de perder la lucha y de abandonar".

Sr. Collen dijo que la mayor meta de la exposición es subir la conciencia respecto al problema del dolor crónico. Dice que, sin embargo, espera encontrar algún día un patrocinador que lleve la exposición de gira.

“La gente no se cree lo que no puede ver'' dice sr. Collen. “Pero ven una pieza de arte que una persona ha creado sobre su dolor y todo cambia''.

Para ver una muestra de diapositivas de selecciones de la Pain Exhibit, haga click aquí, o visite la Web para ver la completa galería de fotos. Otra muestra de diapositivas de The Times en Febrero es protagonizada por arte creado por sufridores de migraña.

Para ver el artículo original en el New York Times, haga click aquí.

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Artículo cortesía de nytimes.com

Impreso en The Pain Practitioner en el ejemplar del verano 2006 (Volumen 16, Número 2)

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Artículo cortesía de aapainmanage.org

Impreso en el Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy en el ejemplar de Septiembre 2005 (Volumen 19 Número 3)

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Website Review

http://www.painexhibit.com
THE ONLINE EXHIBIT OF THE Pain Exhibit, developed by Mark Collen.

Accessible on line at no charge.

A donation form is available at the exhibit site. Tax deductible donations are used to help keep the exhibit alive.

Chronic pain is difficult to define, describe, measure and treat. It varies in location, distribution, intensity, timing, and chronicity. It conveys messages across a spectrum from meaningful signals to a meaningless, grim foreboding. Untreated, chronic pain tends to increase in severity and enlists affective components from anxiety and depression to insomnia, frustration, withdrawal, anger, and even thoughts of suicide. Chronic, under-treated pain afflicts millions of persons and exacts a huge toll in lost wages, health care costs and human misery. The gap between our scientific understanding of how to treat pain and the clinical application of that knowledge remains one of the frustrations of modern health care. The complexity of pain contributes to mistaken assumptions and inappropriate generalizations about its causation and its impact on the individual. For example, I once saw a chart notation, "The pain is not as bad as the patient says it is." The Pain Exhibit is a plea for understanding and better care for those who suffer.

I have seen individual paintings that tried to convey what pain does to people. A single painting, good as it may be, does not usually convey a lasting impression. But put sixty-nine works by artists with chronic pain together with their comments and suddenly the impact is undeniable. The artistic renderings offered in the Pain Exhibit range from direct attempts to depict the pain to symbolic representations of what under-treated pain does to the individual. Despair is there, but transcendence and hope can also be found. Humor, anger, yearning and genius are also present in these works. The human spirit shines through them.

Mark Collen, a young businessman who has experienced chronic pain for ten years following failed back surgery, found some relief through expressing in art what his chronic pain meant to him. Eventually, he asked other similarly disabled persons to share artistic impressions of their pain. After receiving more than 500 submissions, he selected sixty-nine to represent various aspects of chronic pain. Some of the pieces are starkly realistic; others are symbolic representations of pain and its impact.

The graphic representation of a nerve in the grip of two large, black pincers needs no description, nor do the prison-like bars across a scene of a pleasant yard. The text accompanying a distorted self-portrait, however, informs us of the importance of artistic expression:

Pain is the beginning and end of every day to me. I have suffered from chronic pain for so long that I can't imagine life without it anymore. As my back pain increased and the brace came into my life, I found myself painting an increasing Número of self-portraits. I try to express a feeling I cannot put into words. They are an attempt to explain the torment I am going through. Through them I try to express a feeling I cannot put into words. For me, creating art is just something I do to survive a life of constant pain. It's as if the paintings have become a record of my pain, giving a face to an otherwise faceless enemy.

A close-up painting of the face of a cat offers an unexpected comment detailing the value of what might be called 'distraction,' 'focused attention' or 'pet therapy.'

In my deepest hours of pain, we acquired a nut-case (sic) cat, who is able to keep me entertained. When the heaviest prescription opiates would not cut the pain, she would make up some new game that could get me laughing. This cut a spiral of pain and has allowed me to draw off all pain killers.

The fusion of a torso into a stylized cross provides a basis for the artist to challenge commonly held religious assumptions about the heuristic value of suffering. The succinct text accompanying this painting, entitled, "Amateur," offers an undeniable, message, a calculus of suffering beyond mere words or Números:

Amateur is about questioning religion in the depths of despair and making a statement about Jesus' suffering which was short and humane compared to RSD(1) victims.

Words of sufferers describing their art surpasses the impact of either words or art alone. It is hard to imagine a more convincing argument for the value of art therapy than the works and words presented here.

Out of the misery of his failed surgery and resultant chronic pain Mark Collen persevered to provide a forum for persons with chronic pain. Its obvious value in health care education is reflected in the prestigious institutions that already employ it in their programs. The Pain Exhibit can be viewed at painexhibit.com. One of the works from the exhibit can be viewed on the cover of this journal.

A user-friendly CD containing the sixty-nine works of art and accompanying description is available by arrangement from Mark Collen who can be reached through the website or at 916-362-0363. Donations to the Pain Exhibit are tax deductible.


NOTE
1. RSD: reflex sympathetic dystrophy, now also known as 'complex regional pain syndrome'

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Article courtesy of The Haworth Press, Inc.

Printed in the Guideline for the Management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome Pain in Adults and Children (2005)

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Publication of the American Pain Society

Printed in the Sacramento News & Review on Thursday, Julio 29, 2004

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15 Minutes
Everybody Hurts
By John McCormack


          Photo by Larry Dalton

As the old adage goes, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. For Mark Collen, founder of the Pain Exhibit, these are words to live by. After spending the greater part of his life with chronic physical pain, one day, Collen discovered a new medium for expressing it: art. Inspired by the therapeutic results, Collen founded the Pain Exhibit, a gathering of visual artwork by people living with chronic pain. Much more than just a collection of art, it's a voice for chronic-pain sufferers worldwide.

What is the Pain Exhibit?

The Pain Exhibit is an educational visual-arts exhibit that features artists with chronic pain. These artists come from all across the globe, and their art expresses some facet of the pain experience, whether it's torture, fear, acceptance, love, hope or any other feeling that someone will go through in dealing with chronic pain.

What is the mission behind the exhibit?

The mission of the exhibit is to give a voice to the many who suffer in abject silence and to educate health-care providers and the public about chronic pain. There are estimates that up to 120 million people in America suffer from chronic pain. And my guess is that less than 10 percent of those people are effectively treated. The idea is to use art as a tool in communicating the pain experience.

How did the idea for the Pain Exhibit come about?

The way it got started was as a direct result of my own negative experience in trying to find treatment. One day, I was going through a terrible pain episode, and I started creating a piece of art about the emotions that I was going through. I ended up finishing the piece that day and found that it was really cathartic to create art around the pain experience. And so, I kept doing more and more pieces about my pain, relating different facets of it, until one day, I thought, "You know, it would be interesting to know if other people around the world are doing the same thing." And that's when I decided, naively, of course, "Why don't I find out?"

What kind of response did you get?

It was shocking. In putting out the call for art, I got more than 500 pieces. At first, the submissions would just dribble in. And when I got the first 15 submissions, I remember thinking, "Yes! I have enough to justify the exhibit." But by the last week leading up to the submission deadline, I was just getting piles of packages on my front door. It was unbelievable.

How can pain art be used to educate others about chronic pain?

When an individual has chronic pain, you can't see it. I am a fit, healthy person. You would never know that I have chronic pain. And on one hand, that's good, because you can hide it rather easily. But on the other hand, it's very bad, because it means that a doctor can't see it, either. A lot of times, if a doctor is shown art that effectively expresses a person's chronic pain, the doctor is able to better understand it. The beauty of pain art is that it communicates the pain experience far more effective than words ever could.

What do you hope to accomplish?

I want to continue to have medical schools using the images for education. Right now, physicians from Harvard and Stanford are using the art in medical education. I'd also like to have a catalog made, which would go into the offices of pain doctors across the world, so that people can use pain art to explain the pain they're going through. I'm also hoping to raise money to tour the exhibit so that people can see the art in person. It's powerful to look at the images, but when you see them in person, it makes all the difference in the world.

How has the experience affected you?

It's been really phenomenal. It's been difficult and challenging, but I don't regret anything. I have an e-mail and letter file--I call it my positive-vibe file. It's full of e-mails and letters that people have sent me from all over, saying how much they love the site. And I'll open it up and read a few of them when things get tough, and that really makes you feel good. Sometimes, it can be hard because I'm doing all of this more or less alone, but I just feel that it's something that has to be done. I feel that this stuff has to get out there so that people can get the treatment they need.

How can someone get involved with the exhibit?

Anyone who'd like to get involved can do so by checking out painexhibit.com or by calling (916) 362-0363. Any donation, whether it's someone's time or it's help with funding, would be great. It's been kind of an uphill battle in getting help so far, but I'm confident that the exhibit will be successful.

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Article courtesy of newsreview.com

Printed in the American Pain Society Bulletin in the May / Junio 2004 issue (Volumen 14, Número 3)

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Web Site Review
Organization: Pain Art Exhibit
Reviewed by Ronald J. Gironda, PhD

www.painexhibit.com

Site Audience
This is the home page of the PAIN Exhibit, also known as the Pain Exhibit. The stated mission of the site is "to educate healthcare providers and the public about chronic pain through the poignancy of art; and to give voice to the many who suffer in abject silence." The site has had more than 5,000 visitors from 41 different countries since its launch on Marzo 8, but not a single donation. Says project manager Mark R. Collen, "The PAIN Exhibit will not survive the year without funding."

Content Appraisal
This site is an educational exhibit of visual art created by individuals with chronic pain. Each of the 69 pieces in this diverse, well-rounded collection focuses on some aspect of the chronic pain experience. The works are thematically organized into categories such as Portraits of Pain, Pain Visualized, Isolation and Imprisonment, and Hope and Transformation, among others. Accompanying each piece is a brief statement by the artist, which provides greater depth of understanding of the individual's phenomenology and generally adds to the impact of these works. The site also includes background information regarding the project, its funding, and the use of art to communicate the experience of chronic pain. Educators who would like to use the works for instructional purposes are provided with the necessary information. There are no commercial banners or hyperlinks on this site, although donations are solicited.

Navigation/Ease of Use
The site is fully accessible to anyone, requires no registration, and is well-maintained. It is simply designed and easy to navigate. Verbal content is logically organized into a few general categories and presented in a straightforward, readily accessible manner. The site does not have a search engine, but it is not missed.

Recommendations
This fascinating site should have broad appeal to APS members. Not only is the art aesthetically intriguing, but also it truly provides a provocative glimpse into the personal experience of those who suffer with chronic pain. An example of the art that can be viewed on the PAIN Exhibit site is presented below. Perhaps the most compelling reason for APS members to visit this site is to be reminded of the sentiment captured by the statement that accompanies this work.


     "Reflection" by Hester Stekelenburg.
     Featured courtesy of PainExhibit.com.

"This is what my work is about. Trying to make an invisible illness visible. Trying to get the inside out. I am also dealing with the fact that people around me can't see what is wrong. They don't know that I live with pain every single day and that I don't have another choice but to learn to live with it. People tell me not to overreact and that I need to loose the dramatic way of feeling pain. How easy it is for them to forget and how difficult it can be for the one who lives with pain."

Reviewer content represents the opinion of the reviewer, not APS.

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Article courtesy of ampainsoc.org

Printed in the Buenos Aires Herald on Thursday, May 20, 2004

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The art of dealing with chronic pain
By Juliana Green

"Whenever I have a bad pain day I use the parking spot for disabled people. You can't imagine the looks I get from people when I get out of my car."

Mark Collen is the creator of the Pain Exhibit (PainExhibit.com), an online exhibition of art works from people all over the world who suffer chronic pain. The aim is to educate healthcare providers and the public about chronic pain, to get better treatment and understanding.

Collen lives in Sacramento, California. He had a wife and was the top sales person in the nation for the insurance company he was working for. He was putting a box in his car when he ruptured a disc, which stuck into the nerve that ran down his leg, causing severe nerve pain. He was immediately operated on and the pain went away for three months. Desperation overtook Collen when the pain resurged unexpectedly. There was nothing he could do. Pain became part of his life.

One day, as he was feeling especially bad, he made an artistic piece of work and discovered that it not only helped him cope much better with the pain, but that it was an excellent way of transmitting to others what he felt. That's where he drew inspiration from to create the PAIN Exhibit.

Collen then contacted a great Número of patients with chronic pain all over the world and found himself with an enormous amount of art works inspired by pain, which he divided according to themes. As he was unable to become a non-profit organization, he began to work under the California Assembly of Local Art Agencies (CALAA), in order to gather donations for his project.

"Because pain cannot be seen," said Collen, "many people fail to understand that a person might look normal, but might be suffering from chronic pain."

There is a section on the website that illustrates this point very well: But you look so normal. One of the artists, Judy Kay Merryman Cowan, made a collage showing herself in pieces surrounded by phrases that show people's total lack of comprehension as to her condition.

"Art is very powerful," said Collen. In art he found a unique way of expressing what he felt, and people saw that. Collen's sculpture of a foot with steel blades stuck in it expresses what chronic pain feels for him. Many doctors placed the art works in the medical history of their patients. Doctors from Stanford and the University of California at San Francisco are using the art from the site to educate doctors, nurses, and others about chronic pain.

"I went through a great deal of pain, unnecessarily," said Collen, "Because of ignorance most physicians are either afraid to prescribe narcotic analgesics or won't prescribe an adequate dose. They are afraid of two main things: being prosecuted by law enforcement and losing their license to practice medicine, or they fear the patients becoming addicted to the drugs. Public policy desperately needs to change its attitude about the ethical use of narcotic analgesics. Most people don't understand the difference between psychological addiction and physical dependence. Study after study show that people with chronic pain rarely if ever become psychologically addicted to narcotics."

"This project has been the most difficult endeavor of my life," said Collen, "I have had a very difficult time getting help from anyone. It's been very frustrating." He used his own savings to keep the exhibit afloat six months ago, when he ran out of donations, and is currently looking for a sponsor. His idea is to tour the world with the exhibition.

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Article courtesy of buenosairesherald.com

Printed in the Daily Nebraskan on Monday, Marzo 29, 2004

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Painful artwork illuminates suffering
By DN Staff Writer Josh Harrison

Pain is part of art. There is almost a myth that enshrouds the artist as isolated and suffering physically, mentally or both.

D.H. Lawrence had tuberculosis. Frida Kahlo was crippled in a devastating bus accident. Friedrich Nietzsche was plagued by illness and was a mental invalid the last years of his life.

With this in mind, an art exhibit on pain doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary. The Web site painexhibit.com is an amalgamation of different art with themes that stem from suffering.

However, Mark Collen, an artist and the Web site's founder, didn't start PAIN Exhibit to romanticize the notion of the suffering artist. He wants to create awareness about those who suffer from chronic pain.

"Our mission is to give a voice to those who suffer in abject silence," he said.

Myrna Spicer is one such survivor, who was forced into early retirement because of an accident. She now has pain so severe she needs a morphine pump in her stomach that continually supplies relief to her spine.

Her piece featured on PAIN Exhibit is called Morphine Magic, a ceramics piece in the visions of a broken plate, sprinkled with bright colors and chaotic patterns.

Before her accident, Spicer never had much time for art, but she now finds ceramics as a useful medium for expression.

"When I'm having a lot of pain, I find that I use darker colors and do weirder things," she said.

Spicer, a resident of Abilene, Kan., became interested in ceramics because of a local pottery shop, and in addition to suffering, her work reflects her interest in multicultural issues.

"I find myself portraying people more often," she said.

Spicer is just one of many artists featured on Collen's Web site. Other artistic themes on the Web site include "God and Religion," "Isolation and Imprisonment" and "Hope and Transformation."

Collen started PAIN Exhibit in 2001 as a response to the years of undertreatment he endured for a peculiar infirmity. He suffered a herniated disk in a work accident, and a series of unsuccessful surgeries accumulated scar tissue around nerve endings in his spine, leaving him with an ailment that is incurable: pain.

He said people sometimes give him disgusting looks when he parks in handicapped spots. People don't understand because chronic pain isn't a visible affliction. He said this is why the artwork on PAIN Exhibit is important.

"Having chronic pain is a very isolating experience and finding other people who understand chronic pain is very comforting," he said.

This is the first time in history an exhibit of this nature has been organized. The California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies (CALAA), a non-profit organization, is serving as an umbrella agency for the Web site. The immediate goal is to gain sponsorship to create a material exhibit that would tour the United States.

The mission of PAIN Exhibit is to educate healthcare providers and the public about chronic pain through the affective quality of art.

According to Collen, somewhere between 60 and 120 million Americans experience chronic pain, which disables more people than cancer and heart disease and costs the U.S. more than $90 billion per year in medical costs, disability payments and productivity.

In a perfect world there would be no suffering and no need to create awareness about it, which is all artists like Collen want: to legitimize their pain, which is such a prominent part of their artistic inspiration.

"The whole process (art) is very cathartic. It diffuses suicidal feelings and other destructive emotions," Collen said.

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Article courtesy of dailynebraskan.com

Printed in the Sacramento Bee on Thursday, Junio 5, 2003

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People
Show is creative response to pain
Bee Regional Staff

Mark Collen wants to show something that can't be seen. Words fail to describe it. Only art can convey his idea -- his knowledge -- of pain.

Collen, a Rosemont resident, is assembling artwork for a traveling exhibit portraying pain.

"It's an invisible problem," he said. "If you can't see it, most people don't believe it."

Collen said undertreatment of pain is a major problem that goes undetected. He cited statistics from the American Chronic Pain Association stating the U.S. economy loses about $90 million each year in lost productivity and medical costs related to pain.

Collen has wrestled with pain since October 1995 when he injured his back lifting a box. The day before, he had won a national sales award for accomplishments at Nationwide Insurance.

Since the injury and surgery, he and his wife divorced, and he hasn't worked because of the pain, he said.

After four years and thoughts of suicide, he found a pain specialist who helped him function. Now he meditates 90 minute each day, swims and sees a pain specialist and psychologist.

He invested himself more deeply in art after the injury, he said.

"Making art helped me get through the crisis," he said.

In a partnership with the California Assembly of Local Art Agencies, Collen has been recruiting artists, locally and internationally, to submit work for his exhibition. He's received about 100 packages so far and met quite a few like-minded people.

"You don't feel as isolated when you meet other people in the same situation," he said.

He hopes to raise the funds to stage a 75-piece exhibition in Sacramento and then throughout the world. This will be the first exhibition he organizes but his second chance at showing his own pain art. Last August in San Diego , he displayed his work at a gathering of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

"The bottom line is: I want to end unnecessary suffering," he said. "For doctors, family members, society in general -- so they won't be sneering at people who park in handicapped spots because they look healthy."

To contact Collen, call (916) 362-0363 or e-mail Mark@painexhibit.com.

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Article courtesy of sacbee.com