MovieChat Forums > Cake (2015) Discussion > Reality of Chronic Pain

Reality of Chronic Pain

posted 9 years ago by acooper-155-739349
4 replies | jump to latest

I just finished this movie and Aniston aside, this movie showed a very accurate portrayal of someone living in chronic physical pain. The pain eats at you psychologically and it can become a very lonely and frustrating place to be. I should know, I have lived in chronic physical pain for the last 7 1/2 years and it does make you depressed and it does drive people out of your life. People around you don't want to live it every day and so they leave. All I can say is the portrayal was very real, mannerisms and the fact that others just don't get it. I really liked the part in the pool therapy when she told the therapist that she thought that she was faking her pain. That was so genuine because there has not been one chronic pain patient that I have met that has not thought that or actually been accused of faking their pain. That is frustrating and sad. But the therapist reply with , "do you really want to get better" was also poignant. Again, when it drags on for so long and it never seems to end you really question whether you want to get better. Because the ability to want or change things ended so long ago you almost feel like you can't change anymore. It takes lots and lots of strength to keep going. Looking at the suicide angle and having her talk with the woman who did actually do it and seeing the destruction she left behind was powerful too.
I found this great because of my personal relationship with pain. Maybe a personal experience helps to feel the power of her portrayal but she did it accurately. And yes, her attacking the guy responsible is absolutely possible, it's called adrenaline, anger, saddened, hatred unleashed!! Oh it's possible. But she felt that pain when she calmed down for sure.

FYI. Bone pain is the worst pain you can feel. It looks like her body was put back together with pins, screws, wires and plates.

[–] TxMike 9 years ago

" FYI. Bone pain is the worst pain you can feel. "

Every guy already knows that! 

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] rpressley 9 years ago

Bs-hahaha

[–] movie80 9 years ago

Thank you acooper-155-739349 for your post.
I saw her taking pills one after another....

[–] MdmBadenov 9 years ago

I felt the same as you. I can't remember many films centered on a sufferer of chronic pain. It's a whole other world, though, people who haven't been through it can never really understand or relate to. You're right, too...it changes your entire life and permeates every centimeter of it.

It was about 18 years ago, I injured my back and remained in constant pain for over three years. It's impossible to convey how disabling this was. I consulted many doctors and no one could explain why the pain continued. My injury should have healed totally after a few months. The pain lived on, though. I had the sense, most definitely, that a lot of people (those I knew personally as well as medical professionals I consulted) figured either it was in my mind, or that I was deliberately lying to get sympathy...or drugs.

Eventually the pain eased and went away. I resumed parts of my life that had been absent from my life for years. It was such a miraculous thing--and one I have never taken for granted. I know how fortunate I am to have outlived my pain. It wasn't until about a year ago I discovered the source of the chronic pain. It wasn't just the injury. The injury was the precipitant, but the cause of the pain going on so long was due to a disease I have of the auto-immune system. The disease causes a person's own immune system to get the cock-eyed notion some soft tissue in its own body is a foreign body with an intent to do harm. So it sends its soldiers out to attack the offending tissue, resulting in a painful inflammation that persists until the dogs are called off. Somehow, my injury set off the alarm bells of my immune system and the disease, which had been dormant in its hiding places until then, woke up and gave my immune system orders to ATTACK!

"Cake" is a brilliant depiction of the blight of chronic pain...as well as the crippling effects of grief.