Pain disorder is a psychiatric disorder that falls in the category of somatoform disorders. Individuals affected by this disorder often visit physicians complaining of experiencing pain of adequate duration and intensity to cause significant disruption in the physical functioning of the individual. The pain reported by the individual, however, has no pathological evidence to exist that is capable of clarifying the experience and behavior of the enormity described.
Pain disorder is quite common psychiatric patients, particularly women. There is sufficient evidence to indicate that even in the presence of a physical basis of pain the intensity is usually experienced due to the high levels of stress experienced by the patient. The symptoms of pain as reported by the patient may be indistinctly located in the abdomen, heart and other vital organs, lower back or limbs. Tension headaches or migraines do not fall in the category of this disorder.
There are two sub diagnosis of the disorder:
- Pain disorder associated with psychological factors
- Pain disorder associated with both psychological and a general medical condition.
In the first sub diagnosis, the concurrent medical condition is of little significance as compared to the pain experienced by the individual and in the second category, the pain experienced is considered to out of proportion to an established medical condition that might cause pain, but to a lesser extent.
Characteristics of patients suffering from pain disorder:
Individuals with psychogenic pain disorders tend to adopt an invalid lifestyle.
They often go to doctors frequently hoping to find a medical explanation for their symptoms and may take pain killers to relieve the pain.
This type of behavior is persistent even if they are unable to find any underlying physical problem.
In a number of cases, these patients are disabled either by addiction to pain killers or on account of the disabling effects of surgery they have been able to obtain as treatment for their symptoms.
The subjectivity of pain:
In approaching pain disorder, it is important to keep in mind that pain is a subjective experience and its degree or intensity cannot be measured on the basis of visually damaged tissue or irritation. The independence of physical disability and psychological experience makes it important to treat pain linked with physical causes psychologically. There is no way of analyzing the actual extent of pain. One can only make out the extent of pain experienced by the individual based on what is reported by him/her along with observing behaviors such as grimacing, restricted mobility, protective movements etc.
