chapter 10 - test 2 Flashcards
why is pain a “special” symptom in health psychology?
one of the only symptom to produce reflexive emotional responses
most feared aspect of treatment and illness
loop with mood: poor mood heightens pain
verbal reports
draw on the large, informal vocabulary that people use for describing pain
“throbbing” vs. “aching”
drawings
drawing a picture of how pain affects them
darker drawings associated with greater emotional distress and larger drawings were associated with perceptions of worse consequences and symptoms
pain behaviors
behaviors that arise from chronic pain, such as distortions in posture or gait, facial and audible expressions of distress, and avoidance of activities
gate-control theory of pain
a-delta fibers conduct fast, sharp, localized pain; c-fibers conduct slow, aching, burning, and long-lasting pain; higher-order brain processes influence the experience of pain through the control mechanism
nociception
pain perception that results from mechanical damage to the tissues of the body
a-delta fibers
small, myelinated fibers that transmit sharp pain and respond especially to mechanical o thermal pain
c-fiber nerves
unmyelinated nerve fibers that are involved in polymodal pain, that transmit dull, aching pain
dorsal horn
where peripheral nerve fibers enter the spinal column
periaqueductal gray
structure in the midbrain that has been tied to the reticular formation in the medulla, which makes connections with the neurons in the substantia gelatinosa of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord
what are endogenous opioid peptides?
the natural pain suppression system of the body
opiates
pain control drugs manufactured from plants
pain-prone personality
a constellation of personality traits that predispose a person to experience chronic pain
what is the connection between depression and pain?
pain and depression appear to be especially heavily intertwined
the relation of ________ and pain may be due to dysfunction in the opioid system that controls pain or to psychological processes involving hypervigilance
anger suppression
acute pain
usually short in duration and is defined as pain that goes on for 6 months or less
chronic pain
does not decrease with treatment and the passage of time
surgical control of pain
cutting or creating lesions in the so-called pain fibers at various points in the body so that pain sensations can no longer be conducted
counterirritation
inhibiting pain in one part of the body by stimulating or mildly irritating another area
biofeedback
providing biophysiological feedback to a patient about some bodily process of which the patient is usually unaware
relaxation
individual shifts his or her body into a state of low arousal by progressively relaxing different parts of the body
distraction
focusing attention on an irrelevant and attention-getting stimulus or by distracting oneself with a high level of activity, one can turn attention away from pain
pain management programs
interdisciplinary efforts, bringing together neurological, cognitive, behavioral, and psychological expertise concerning pain
