Pain Care Beyond the Medical Practice Office: Utilizing Patient Advocacy, Education, and Support Organizations

Abstract

Living with chronic pain is a total-person experience. Chronic pain affects all aspects of an individual's life. The physical effects are clear—pain, sleep deprivation, and curtailed capacity to function. The emotional effects should also be clear—in most cases depression, sense of loss, fear and anxiety, frustration, and diminished hope and confidence. The social effects should also be clear—diminished social activities and contacts, strained marital, family and work relationships, and withdrawal. The effects on work and career should also be obvious—diminished capacity to perform, diminished ability to achieve career goals, possible loss, or end of work life. These effects in turn contribute to spiraling the individual into a mixed state of pain, fear, withdrawal, anger, anxiety, frustration, hopelessness, and defeat. How does the medical practitioner deal with all of that in the 10, 15, or 20 min of the periodic office visit? Most people living with chronic pain need a great deal more than what can be provided in the typical office visit. The days and weeks are long when living with pain, and the need for information and support is continuous beyond the medical office visit. The physical psychosocial impact of pain is well documented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)