Questions and Answers

A Conversation with Lynne Greenberg, Author of THE BODY BROKEN

Q: Why did you write this book?

A: Writing THE BODY BROKEN was a cathartic experience. I had just been hospitalized in a neurological clinic and been released without having found medication or procedures to cure me. I knew that I needed to heal and regain my life again. Writing the book helped me to process and vent all of the grief and anguish. It also helped me gain a new perspective on my experience that allowed me to move forward and learn to live with the pain – rather than fight against it.

Q: You write about the mind-body link, and how some of your doctors thought tension and stress could be the source of the continued pain. What did you learn about that connection for yourself?

A: While I don’t think that tension and stress cause my pain, I do think that they can aggravate my pain levels. They can also make me suffer more through the pain. I try hard to stay positive, find joy and happiness and distract myself from dwelling on my pain in order to combat the negativity of stress and tension. I also exercise, meditate and get massages regularly to decrease my stress levels.

Q: You write eloquently about your increasing dependence on painkillers and your addiction to methadone and its devastating side effects on your body. The story of your husband’s search all over New York for pills during your withdrawal on Easter weekend is heartbreaking. The incident also crystallized for you that you needed to be hospitalized full-time. How did you eventually overcome the addiction?

A: I stopped taking methadone gradually under the care of physicians. I also was given medication that made my withdrawal symptoms more manageable.

Q: As an English professor, you seemed to find solace and comfort through poetry.  Do you think art has a played a role in helping you live your best life? Do you think a passion for arts can help actually alleviate pain?

A: Yes. Reading poetry, looking at art, listening to great music can distract someone in pain. Instead of lying in bed doing nothing but obsess about being in pain, the mind can pull one away from that experience and re-connect to beauty and joy again. Poetry and literature that deal with pain – whether physical or mental – also help me to feel less alone. Sometimes writers describe so beautifully what I have been feeling and unable to express myself. Reading these words is therefore comforting.

Q: You discovered that exercise – namely dancing and surfing – is very therapeutic, both physically and mentally. Tell us about that.

A: Dancing and surfing are the most tremendous endorphin rushes. The joy and thrill of movement can catapult a person literally out of bed. Endorphins are extremely important for combating pain – they are the strongest pain-killer that exists! Exercise can also help the body compensate for pain that is the result of some injury. By making the body strong in other areas, it can offset the pain.

Q: What was some of the best (and worst) advice you received throughout this journey?

A: The best advice? There really are too many facets to sum up in one sentence. Regaining hope and faith – finding courage to persevere and work hard to get better – comes from within. I had a lot of very supportive people around me who helped me gain those things back.

Hearing that things could only get worse for me was devastating. Also being told that it was somehow my fault, because I wasn’t trying hard enough to get better. Being told that it was in my head – that is, because of mental problems, was very de-stabilizing as well. It also didn’t help me to gain a better perspective.

Q: What can readers who have never suffered from chronic pain take away from reading your book?

A: Everyone knows someone who has chronic pain. It is just such a common and intractable problem. Reading this book, I hope, will allow family members and friends of such patients to understand better what the patient is going through – and therefore be more effective in helping that person. It also puts into perspective the old adage, “this too shall pass.” Every family goes through a crisis. Our crisis was not even fatal. Hearing how one family has coped with a trying time perhaps can provide solace, comfort – even some practical tools for handling the crisis.