Easter egg, noun, delicious chocolatey goodness (except those small, solid ones that nobody really likes), but also, a secret feature, hidden element or inside joke in a piece of work such as a video game or film.
There’s an easter egg below – happy hunting!
50. It’s just a bilby in the bath
Attributed to ‘Mr Archimedes’ Bath’ Pamela Allen, 1998, Harper Collins
Look at this drawing – a bilby (small, furry Australian marsupial) is about to be blamed for the bath overflowing. But it’s not really the bilby’s fault. Lurking in the bath are some very big animals (DIMs). Sometime in life, we blame the small, or most recent concerns/problems/DIMs for the pain without recognising the bigger picture – DIMs (even big ones) can hide in hard to find places. Another way of thinking about it might be blaming the last glass of wine for your headaches the next day. Your ‘bilbies’ could be hearing certain words, fearing certain movements or even a worrisome thought.
Ponder this – sometimes when you think ‘have I got a headache?’, just this thought could be enough to tip you into a headache state. Identifying the difference between bilbies and alligators is an important part of recovery. You might not need to worry about every bilby but the DIMs in the bath need your attention.
The story of the bilby in the bath helps explain why minor injuries can become major problems, it powers up the use of the Protectometer, it challenges singular blame, it enhances emergent thinking and it encourages a wider search for contributions to pain states.
When you find the surprise, don’t spoil it for others, but feel free to share an I found it! below
Knowledge Driving HealthPS. There’s another 70 nuggets and 15 novellas in Explain Pain Supercharged
Bibles not bilbies
Well done all the people who put together this amazing body of work that is changing the way people suffering view their pain. It is so lovely to be able to empower my clients and put them in charge of their recovery from illness or pain.
Oops!! Autocorrect clearly doesn’t like our small furry marsupial! Fixed them up!
Hmmm, nope I haven’t found it.
Me neither, I’ve re-read this many times, but still have no idea … well done to those who have found it, I feel a bit thick, tbh!
Nevertheless, once again very useful material to help people understand difficult concepts. Could be reinforced (if necessary) by other representations/analogies that are even in common language, e.g. tipping point, final straw, etc.
Great analogy! However, in Mr Archimedes’ bath as I have read it, there is a kangaroo, a goat and a wombat. Lets not blame the bilby . . . there is no bilby
Found it! and what an easter egg it is 😛
found it! awesome. thanks for these.
I like the Bilby in the bathtub analogy. I have found it is a good way to introduce the idea of danger/threat/stress as part of a pain experience – it provides an easy to understand analogy, easy to talk about, easy to relate to, and can “open” the conversation for more talk on the role of DIMs.
Found it. And thanks for helping me pay attention
Found it. Thanks for focusing my attention.
clever 🙂 another lesson in ” pay attention!”