Article is a long, personal story conveying the human cost and context of a simple-to-understand problem. If you have experienced this yourself - and most ha

Article is a long, personal story conveying the human cost and context of a simple-to-understand problem. If you have experienced this yourself - and most have to some degree - then all the description is unnecessary. Which seems appropriate - how do you convey an internal personal experience - maybe lots and lots of talking with metaphors and emotions? The health-provider side has the problem that some people are faking it, some are seeking attention or drugs without a condition, and some are needlessly suffering but won’t say so. Also, they don’t have the time. This is a wicked problem for a system to have - there are malicious actors and incompetents on both sides. The current systems of half-century-old 1-10 scores is frustrating and simplistic. TFA is not saying the solution is for all patients to get an English degree - I think. The worksheet they show as an improvement is dramatically more complex, hard to read, and undoubtedly more accurate than the old 1-10. That’s not a clear ‘win’. Also, why have we accepted these simplistic tools for so long? Maybe there is little to be gained by improving them - or maybe the incentives are misaligned. It’s a good problem to work on