Pain
Disorder
This is not to be confused with Hypocondriasis which is the preoccupation with the fear of having,
or the idea that one has, a serious disease based on the person's misinterpretation
of bodily symptoms or bodily functions.
Features
and Symptoms
The primary symptoms observed in a patient with pain disorder
are:]
1. The
predominant focus of the clinical presentation and is of sufficient severity to
warrant clinical attention
2. The pain
causes significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other
important areas of functioning
3. Psychological
factors are judged to play a significant role in the onset, severity,
exacerbation, or maintenance of the pain
4.
The pain is not intentionally produced or
feigned as in Factitious Disorder
5. Pain
Disorder is not diagnosed if the pain is better accounted for by a Mood,
Anxiety, or Psychotic Disorder
Examples of impairment
resulting from the pain include inability to work or attend school, frequent
use of the health care system, the pain becoming a major focus of the
individual's life, substantial use of medications, and relational problems such
as marital discord and disruption of the family's normal lifestyle.
The main problem in diagnosis is that pain disorder can
only be considered as the patients condition if the medical and laboratory
results for the symptoms turn out to be normal but the patient still has
prevalent complaints for the pain. Even then, the condition may not be that of
Pain Disorder but maybe mis-diagnosed as other similar mental illnesses like
somatization disorder, conversion disorder or psychotic disorder. It is also
possible that pain disorder prevails with other mental illnesses which makes
the diagnosis even more troublesome and tedious.
Treatments
Depending on whether the pain is acute or chronic,
management may involve one or more of the following: pharmacological treatment
(medication); psychotherapy(individual
or group); family, behavioral, physical; hypnosis, and/or occupational therapy.
Antidepressants may be prescribed along with psychotherapy for fast and
effective results. Pain and sleep medication is also closely linked so sleep
medication is also a good option.
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