‘These old attitudes are dumbass attitudes’: New service launched to help manage pain for trades workers

Pain BC has launched a new service and ad campaign for trades workers suffering from chronic pain.

People in the trades who are living with chronic pain will have better access to supports as the province and Pain BC have launched a new service to help manage the condition.

Ben Marsolais started his career in construction when he was 11 years old and working for his stepfather. He took a quick pause after graduating secondary school to attend university, and then returned to the industry in his mid-20s.

“By that time I had done enough damage to my back that I was already having chronic pain,” said Marsolais.

He fought through it knowing that the industry comes with a “tough guy” culture, often resulting in many left to suffer in silence.

Marsolais had the support of his family to help him deal with that pain, although many in the trades experiencing a similar situation suffer from deteriorating mental health and often choose to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol.

“We know that untreated pain is a really significant driver of the overdose crisis in this province,” said Maria Hudspith, CEO of Pain BC.

In order to combat that stigma, through funding from the province Pain BC has now launched its Trades and Pain program which offers expanded supports for tradespeople living with chronic pain. That includes a free confidential text line that connects tradespeople to trained staff, beginning the process of getting those workers the help they need.

In addition, signs will begin popping up on job sites directing workers to the resources they need.

“They are saying that these old attitudes are dumbass attitudes,” said Hudspith. “We need to normalize talking about chronic pain on our job sites, we need to break the stigma and the way we’re going to do that is to use the language of our workers.”

“A lot of it is mental health,” said Marsolais. “It is guys getting stuck in this depressive state of being in pain constantly.”

Marsolais still suffers from back pain, although now he says he has the proper tools to deal with it. Still in the construction industry, he sits on the Trades Advisory Committee which helped shape the Trades and Pain Program.

“You should not suffer in silence day by day,” said Marsolais.