Unit 3: The Biopsychosocial Model

Question 1

RED flag

Answer 1

Biological; pathology requiring IMMEDIATE attention

Question 2

ORANGE flag

Answer 2

PSYCH pathology requiring IMMEDIATE attention

Question 3

YELLOW flag

Answer 3

Psychological; Beliefs, emotional response, pain behaviors

Question 4

BLUE flag

Answer 4

Work related (blue collar)

Question 5

BLACK flag

Answer 5

Medical/legal issue (judge’s robes)

Question 6

5 KEY Psychological Factors

Answer 6

1. Fear/anxiety
2. Catastrophizing
3. Poor/passive coping
4. Self-efficacy issues (can’t do on their own)
5. Depressed (gave up/hard to motivate)

Question 7

How to convince patients we know they’re in pain, but it’s not just about the tissues?

Answer 7

Pain is not something that comes from the tissues, it is THE END RESULT

The BRAIN produces pain and PROJECTS it to locations, which can be important when pain persists

Question 8

What happens when pain persists?

Answer 8

The neurons keep running, and get better and better at producing pain

Then they become MORE SENSITIVE and need SMALLER and SMALLER influence

This ILLUSION in increased SENSITIVITY makes the brain try to PROTECT something that doesn’t need protection (snake bite vs twig)

Then PAIN SPREADS, the networks lose ability to be less specific and precise, causing pain to spread, CHANGING its QUALITY, becoming BOTH unhelpful and uninformative