- Psychogenic pain
Infobox_Disease
Name = PAGENAME
Caption =
DiseasesDB =
ICD10 = ICD10|F|45|4|f|40
ICD9 = ICD9|307.8
ICDO =
OMIM =
MedlinePlus = 000922
eMedicineSubj =
eMedicineTopic =
MeshID =Psychogenic pain, also called psychalgia, [Psychalgia - Physical pain that is possibly of psychological origin. [http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/psychalgia American Heritage® Medical Dictionary] ] is physical pain that is caused, increased, or prolonged by mental, emotional, or behavioral factors. [http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/Pain_Management/hic_Psychogenic_Pain.aspx Cleveland Clinic, Health information] ] [ [http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Psychogenic_pain Psychogenic pain - definition from Biology-Online.org ] ] [Merskey and Spear defined psychogenic pain as ”(...) pain which is independent of peripheral stimulation or of damage to the nervous system and due to emotional factors, or else pain in which any peripheral change (e.f. muscle tension) is a consequence of emotional factors.” Merskey, H., Spear F.G. (1967). "Pain, psychological and psychiatric aspects". London. Bailliere, Tindall & Cassell. ISBN-10: 070200006X] Headache, back pain, or stomach pain are some of the most common types of psychogenic pain. It may occur, rarely, in persons with a
mental disorder , but more commonly it accompanies or is induced bysocial rejection ,broken heart ,grief ,love sickness , or other such emotional events.Sufferers are often stigmatized, because both medical professionals and the general public tends to think that pain from psychological source is not "real". However, specialists consider that it is no less actual or hurtful than pain from other sources. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, "or described in terms of such damage" (emphasis added). In the note accompanying that definition, the following can be found about pain that happens for psychological reasons: [ [http://www.iasp-pain.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=General_Resource_Links&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=3058 IASP Pain Terminology] ]
Many people report pain in the absence of tissue damage or any likely pathophysiological cause; usually this happens for psychological reasons. There is usually no way to distinguish their experience from that due to tissue damage if we take the subjective report. If they regard their experience as pain and if they report it in the same ways as pain caused by tissue damage, it should be accepted as pain.
Medicine refers also to psychogenic pain or psychalgia as a form of
chronic pain under the name of "persistent somatoform pain disorder". Causes may be linked to stress, unexpressed emotional conflicts, psychosocial problems, or variousmental disorder s. Some specialists believe that psychogenic chronic pain exists as a protective distraction to keep dangerous repressed emotions such as anger or rage unconscious.Sarno, John E., MD, et al., "The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders" 2006 (ISBN 0-06-085178-3)] It remains controversial, however, that chronic pain might arise purely from emotional causes. [Stephen Tyrer, [http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/188/1/91?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&volume=188&firstpage=91&resourcetype=HWCIT Psychosomatic pain] , The British Journal of Psychiatry (2006) 188: 91-93] Treatment may include psychotherapy, antidepressants, analgesics, and other remedies that are used for chronic pain in general. [ [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000922.htm MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia] ]ee also
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Psychogenic disease References
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