Psychological approaches used in managing pain essay

Pain is the most common symptom being the cause of seeking medical help in the general population. One in four people over 65 suffer from significant pain syndrome, a significant proportion of these cases refer to diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Socio-economic importance of this problem is enormous. In the UK, only the pain syndromes associated with the pathology of the musculoskeletal system are the cause of 20% recourses to the general practitioner and cost about 18 billion pounds. The data of a united European studies indicate that 57% of patients suffering from rheumatic diseases experience continuous pain, 27% do not receive adequate treatment, and 55% with different frequency resort to analgesics (Lingaraju and Ashburn, 2013, p. 268).

At the present state of medical science suffering from pain is unacceptable, but medicines which are used in pain management effect only the inflammatory component of pain, while pain is usually more than a pure sensation associated with actual or potential organic damage as it is usually accompanied by emotional experience. Any organ can be the source of the pain, and the very feeling of pain can be maintained by different cognitive mechanisms. Moreover, a particular variant of chronic pain is psychogenic pain. Further in our study, we consider the psychological factors contributing to the perception of pain and psychological approaches for managing it, as well as the role of nurse in pain management processes.