Date of Award
Summer 8-23-2025
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in Anthropology
Organizational Unit
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Anthropology
First Advisor
Alejandro Ceron
Second Advisor
Kelly Fayard
Third Advisor
Aleysia Whitmore
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Chronic pain, Individual experience, Meaning, Phenomenology, Perception
Abstract
Chronic pain is a pervasive public health issue within Western society today and amongst humans worldwide. Although chronic pain is something that many people have or will experience sometime in their life, it is a complex experience that does not have a simple universal solution or immediate cure. The causes of pain can be a multitude of things and the treatments that work for some may not work for others. The current research seeks to explore the experience of chronic pain to help fill gaps in the wider research of pain. This study pursues answers to two research questions including; How do people experience chronic pain? And, What meanings do people give to their pain? In this qualitative approach to the collection of interviews, illness narratives and explanatory models are examined. The research includes interviews of a sample of seven people in the Denver Colorado area, who have experienced pain for at least two years, and are over the age of eighteen. This research uses phenomenology of experience and perception as well as embodiment to help portray the experience of chronic pain. The complex issue of chronic pain requires various disciplines to collaborate and listen to those who experience it and have managed symptoms for extended periods of time to understand the lived experience of chronic pain, to improve the visibility of pain, as well as to improve its treatment.
Copyright Date
8-2025
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Andrea Alzalde
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
139 pgs
File Size
664 MB
Recommended Citation
Alzalde, Andrea, "Chronic Pain: An Exploration of the Experience of Chronic Pain" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2540.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2540