Persistent pain can disrupt one’s psychology

Professor Dr. Haci Ahmet Alıcı, stating that pain lasting more than 3 months could be chronic pain syndrome, said, ‘In chronic pain, it’s not just about the pain. There is a patient who has lost hope for healing, feels helpless, restless, has exhausted patience and endurance, has gained unique experiences about pain, in short, emotionally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually affected. Therefore, for pain treatment to be effective and successful, it needs to be carried out in a more complex program.’ Professor Dr. Haci Ahmet Alıcı from Medipol Mega University Hospital Algology Clinic warned against chronic pain syndrome. Professor Dr. Alıcı, emphasizing that pain is a warning signal of the body, stated, ‘Whether it’s a headache, stomach ache, or pain originating from elsewhere in our body, we all experience pain at some point in our lives. Pain is a signal in our body that something is wrong. So, pain is our friend. It directs us to seek a solution from a doctor. We define pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience that includes all of the individual’s past experiences related to real or potential tissue damage. Most of our pains are temporary. When we solve the disease causing the pain, the pain goes away on its own, or when we use painkillers or through various behaviors, it goes away and does not recur. We call this type of pain acute pain. If the same pain persists or recurs and lasts for more than 3 months, we talk about the pain becoming chronic.’
Professor Dr. Alıcı, stating that pain can lead to depression, provided the following information: ‘During the chronicization process that continues after the onset of pain, the protective stimulant limiting effect of pain reaches a point. In the process of chronicization, the individual seeks solutions for pain treatment with great hope. They make individual efforts. At the point where hope and individual efforts are exhausted, the pain has started to become chronic. The psychology of the individual, which allows us to respond quickly to threats during the acute pain period, turns into depression as a psychological component of chronic pain as a result of the pain continuing. Chronic pain disease/syndrome emerges as a point where pain is considered as a disease in itself, requiring a multidisciplinary examination and treatment in a very comprehensive and multidisciplinary manner. Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts more than 3-6 months and requires long-term treatment, has a multidimensional experience specific to the individual, and includes sensory, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive components. Therefore, chronic pain no longer appears as a symptom. It is now a multidimensional syndrome. In chronic pain, it’s not just about the pain. There is a patient who has experienced pain for a long time, lost hope for healing, feels helpless, restless, has exhausted patience and endurance, has gained unique experiences about pain, in short, emotionally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually affected. Therefore, for pain treatment to be effective and successful, it needs to be carried out in a more complex program.’
Professor Dr. Alıcı, pointing out that patients with chronic pain feel physically and psychologically stressed and constantly uncomfortable, continued as follows: ‘This situation can lead to anger and disappointment in the patient and their loved ones. While considering the physical dimensions of chronic pain in treatment, we also need to manage the mental and emotional aspects of pain from a psychotherapy perspective to reduce the triggering and intensity of your pain. In such a case, chronic pain ceases to be a symptom and has now become a syndrome, and the association with psychiatric symptoms is quite high. Our psychological disorders accompanying chronic pain can appear as depression, sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, psychogenic pain disorder, somatic symptom disorder, conversion disorder, and malingering/factitious disorder. As in the diagnosis and evaluation of chronic pain patients, the treatment should always be approached in a multidisciplinary manner, which is accepted as the gold standard. In chronic pain patients receiving comprehensive healing services involving multiple treatments with a coordinated approach, the benefit of a multidisciplinary approach has been scientifically proven. In this gold standard approach, the psychological factors accompanying chronic pain must be taken into consideration. After the evaluation and diagnosis of chronic pain by a pain specialist, the patient should be directed to psychotherapy for the treatment of psychological factors while treating the pain physically.’