How to Stay Sane in Pain

It’s estimated that 1.5 million Americans, nearly five million people worldwide, have some form of lupus. Current data suggest it’s more common than cystic fibrosis, leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis combined. At present, the disease is unfamiliar to most and is widely misunderstood. This leads to high levels of misdiagnosis, belated diagnosis, or misdiagnosis that is potentially life-threatening. It could be a leading “sleeper” disease of modern times, with people suffering unacknowledged and untreated. In How to Stay Sane in Pain, author Karen Drennan-McEwan clarifies the key symptoms of the disease, which include chronic pain, and explains how it is currently diagnosed and treated. She offers a look at its history, medications, and their main side effects. From the author’s perspective of someone who suffers personally from lupus, as well as other patients’ testimonies, this guide describes how to achieve resilience and calm despite the disease. Drennan-McEwan offers a step-by-step mind-body approach, an approach rooted in the author’s experience of a massive lupus flare and utilizing her training as a counselor and psychotherapist.