By Roger Chriss, PNN Columnist

Chronic pain has not gone away. But media coverage of it has dropped off. Not only are there fewer news stories about chronic pain, but the focus has shifted. Most stories about opioids these days deal with lawsuits and overdoses, not how they are helpful in treating pain.

U.S. media coverage and public interest in chronic appears to be trending downward. According to Google Trends, the number of web searches using the term “chronic pain” peaked in 2018 and have dropped to levels of a decade ago.

Google searches for “opioids” also peaked in 2018 and are now trending downward.

Searches for “medical cannabis” are likewise trending downward. The focus of news coverage is also changing. Stories today about medical cannabis tend to look at legislation and business, not whether cannabis is useful for medical conditions.

Even the opioid crisis turns out not be so interesting anymore. Google Trends shows searches for “opioid crisis” peaking in 2017 and a steep decline ever since.

There is, fortunately, some ongoing interest in pain management. Google Trends shows only a slight decline in searches for “pain management” in recent years.

Americans are losing interest in not only opioids and pain, but also addiction and public health. In 2018, according to Pew Research, 42% of U.S. adults said drug addiction was a major problem in their community. By October 2021, only 35% said that.  

It would be easy to attribute this to the pandemic. But Americans are losing interest in that, too. Surveys taken as the Omicron variant crested early this year across the U.S. showed that more Americans now believe we should “learn to live” with the pandemic and “get back to normal,” rather than treat it as an ongoing public health emergency.  

“The findings come at a possible turning point in the pandemic, as several Democratic governors announced intentions to ease some mask mandates over the next month. The growing frustration with pandemic restrictions may help explain some of those early announcements — even as cases reach record levels,” Press News Agency reported. 

But the prevalence of chronic painful disorders has not changed. In fact, the problem is getting worse because long Covid is fast becoming a new painful long-term illness for millions of people  And the pain of cancer, trauma and life-limiting chronic illness remains the same. But there is, sadly, less and less interest in the subject. 

Roger Chriss lives with Ehlers Danlos syndrome and is a proud member of the Ehlers-Danlos Society. Roger is a technical consultant in Washington state, where he specializes in mathematics and research.