Health

How can psychological therapies be useful in chronic pain and affect medical utilization? Psychological treatments can reduce the perception of pain intensity, medication use, and pain disability and improve overall functioning. Pain patients experience changes in their autonomy and identity and over time deplete internal and external psychosocial resources. Many life domains (e.g., ability to …

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What are the limitations of medical treatments for chronic pain? Medical treatments alone do not target the pathways and mechanisms responsible for pain processing, perception, and management. Also, chronic pain can usually not be cured but managed.

What is the difference between psychological treatments of noncancer versus cancer pain? Many aspects of cancer treatment may cause the development of psychological symptoms. These etiologies include stress from procedures, chemotherapy, radiation treatment injuries, changes in physical appearance and loss of functioning, fear of suffering and death, loss of social role, and alienation from social …

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What are some of the mental disorders which pain patients develop? The comorbidity of mental disorders among pain populations is considered to be high, although precise prevalence rates vary by the pain condition and demographics of the populations (e.g., age, educational attainment, gender). Among the most common found are disorders of depression, anxiety (including posttraumatic …

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How does a mental disorder interact with chronic pain? Persons with a premorbid mental disorder (such as depression or anxiety) are likely to have limitations in their stress management and coping abilities. Therefore, the stress of chronic pain may be too difficult of a load to integrate and lead to a worsening of their overall …

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What is the diagnostic classification system used for mental disorder diagnoses of pain patients? Pain patients with mental disorders are classified according to the DSM-5 and ICD-10 nosological systems. Pain can result in any mental disorder listed in these classification systems.

What is the diathesis stress model, and how does it relate to pain? The diathesis-stress model is a psychological theory which posits that a predisposition of biological and/or emotional vulnerability in the context of exposure to life stress will determine the outcome for the person. As a psychological theory, diathesis-stress has been used to explain …

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