Psychology and pain

Question 1

What is pain

Answer 1

unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.

Question 2

Gate Conrol Therory

Facts & Theory

Answer 2

• The Facts:
  
  • Pain can occur without apparent cause.
  • At times pain does not occur despite injury.
  • Pain often persists after healing.
  • Sensible treatments often failure.
• The Theory:
  
  • A “gating” mechanism in the spinal cord increases or decreases pain signals.

Question 3

Chronic Pain Facts

Answer 3

Pain that lasts past normal healing time (typically > 3 to 6 months).

• Reported by 1 out of 8 people in the UK.
• Second most frequent condition leading to incapacity benefits. (1st=mental health problems)
• Patients with chronic pain in general practice take an average of more than 4 types of analgesics.

Question 4

What are some of the most important things to chronic pain sufferers?

Answer 4

• Enjoyment of life in general
• Fatigue
• Emotional Well-being
• Weakness
• Staying asleep at night

Question 5

What are some of the methods used in CBT?

THere is lots of evidence that CBT is useful in helping chronic pain sufferers

Answer 5

• Conceptualization
• Coping skills training
• Relaxation
• Cognitive restructuring
• Graded activation
• Pain education
• Communication skills training
• Pacing/activity management
• Problem solving
• Physical exercise

Question 6

Psychological Inflexibility

Answer 6

process based in interactions of language and cognition with direct experiences that produces an inability to persist in, or change, a behavior pattern in the service of long term goals or values

Question 7

Suffering

data

Answer 7

o 15% to 30% of adults have chronic pain.

o 19% to 30% of the population suffers from a diagnosable psychiatric disorder in any given year.

o The lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders is nearly 50%

Question 8

When does chronic pain matter the most?

Answer 8

when it leads to behavioural disturbance

Question 9

What does outcome of treatment of any sort depend on?

Answer 9

Behavioural change

Question 10

What method is the most direct for targeting behavior problems related to chronic pain?

Answer 10

Method within broadly CBT approaches are the most direct methods for targeting behavior problems related to chronic pain.