Phantoms in the Brain

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BBC Radio 4 LW

Documentaries

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Dramatic stories exploring the nature of physical and mental health.

Dramatic stories of patients and their doctors, exploring the nature of physical and mental health.

Every day, in every hospital, people are being admitted with neurological symptoms like seizures, paralysis, inability to speak or walk. Other patients suffer from psychiatric symptoms such as bizarre delusions or life-shattering hallucinations. Yet not all is as it first seems. Some of those with physical problems will not have identifiable physical causes, and some with apparent psychiatric disorders will have a specific and potentially treatable physical cause. 
   
Through the dramatic stories of patients and their doctors, in this 4-part series, neurologist, Professor Guy Leschziner, presenter of "Mysteries of Sleep" and "The Senses", explores the nature of the complex interactions between physical and mental health; and how modern medicine is revolutionising our understanding of brain and mind.  We discover how novel insights are rapidly breaking down the division between psychiatry and neurology. 


Image:  Amy Hiley amyhileyart.com

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Phantoms in the Brain: ‘Is back pain a transmissible disease?' - Dan’s story

‘Is back pain a transmissible disease?' - Dan’s story

BBC Radio 4 - Phantoms in the Brain, ‘Is back pain a transmissible disease?' - Dan’s story

Dan lives with agonising back ache, until a pilot study into pain transforms his life.

Dan lives with agonising back pain for 18 years; Dianne has irritable bowel syndrome since childhood. Both discover life-changing treatments that don’t involve drugs or surgery.

In this episode we explore the powerful interaction between our mind and our body. 

Dan has always been very healthy and very active – enjoying running, basketball, ski-ing, golf.  But one day, in his mid-twenties, he wakes up with agonising back pain, that lasts for nearly 20 years.  He sees various doctors, tries all kinds of therapy, but nothing helps.   An MRI scan reveals no physical damage.  Dan’s resigned to a life of pain, until he spots an advert seeking recruits for a study to help chronic back pain.   Dan feels he has nothing to lose.  What happens next astonishes him – he undergoes a psychological treatment, called pain reprocessing therapy – where the brain is trained to unlearn the pain.  The very real pain that Dan has experienced for so many years vanishes and his life is changed forever.   

And we meet Dianne who has crippling stomach pains and inconsistent bowel movements from the age of seven.  The constipation and diarrhoea get so bad, she limits her food intake and develops an eating disorder.   At university, she sees a doctor for the first time and is diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).   Dianne takes part in a clinical trial, involving a behavioural therapy programme.  She learns about the connection between the mind and the digestive system; and the role that stress plays in driving her symptoms.  The psychological programme helps Dianne to rethink her mindset, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.   And it significantly reduces her IBS attacks. 

These stories illustrate the close connection between our physical and mental health. And how treating the body and mind in isolation makes no sense if we want to give patients the best outcomes.    

Presenter:  Professor Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: Graham Puddifoot

Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Clare Fordham

Image: Amy Hiley amyhileyart.com

BBC Radio 4

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Phantoms in the Brain

‘Is back pain a transmissible disease?' - Dan’s story

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