Cited by 235Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationPain Management and TreatmentPain Management and Placebo Effect

Role of psychology in pain management

Open access
Eccleston, C.·2001·British Journal of Anaesthesia

Abstract

Psychological factors are central to the experience of pain, the delivery of effective analgesia and for the specific treatment of chronic pain and disability. Improvement in pain management can often be brought about by very simple, if subtle, changes in clinical practice. Although simple, these changes can have significant effects in the experience of pain, distress and use of health-care resources. For the chronic pain patient, the presentation is much more complex and the treatment interdisciplinary and programmatic. The evidence for the effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for adults with chronic pain is now well established. This treatment should be available as a core part of any chronic pain service.

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Crossref · 10.1093/bja/87.1.144

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  • Although functionally important in acute pain, these behaviours are normally ineffective for chronic pain and may result in reduced functioning and quality of life.

    “Although functionally important in acute pain, these behaviours are normally ineffective for chronic pain and may result in reduced functioning and quality of life (QoL) (Eccleston, 2001;McCracken & Morley, 2014;Melzack, 1999;Vlaeyen et al., 2016;Zimmerman, 2004).”

    From Internet-delivered acceptance and commitment therapy as microlearning for chronic pain: A randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up (2021) · cites this paper as Eccleston, 2001

    The 'Catastrophizing and worry' section (page unavailable) describes avoidance of pain-inducing activity as a normal survival mechanism, but says that in chronic pain, people with marked fear may avoid activity to the point of disability. The 'Indirect positive reinforcement of pain behaviour' section (page unavailable) says avoidance can promote further pain and a decline in activity. The source supports the contrast and reduced functioning, but limits the disability finding to those with marked fear and does not explicitly link these behaviours to reduced quality of life. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • People with chronic pain often develop additional problems over time, such as emotional disturbance, cognitive difficulties, fear and fatigue.

    “People with chronic pain often develop additional problems over time, such as emotional disturbance, cognitive difficulties, fear and fatigue 4 .”

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4 of the 73 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Asmundson GJG, Norton GR, Jacobson SJ. Social, blood/injury, and agoraphobic fears in patients with physically unexplained chronic painÐare they clinically signi®cant? Anxiety 1996; 2: 28±33 4 Audit Commission. Anaesthetic services in the UK. London: Department of Health, 1998
  2. Davies HTO, Crombie IK, Macrae WA, Rogers KM. Pain clinic patients in Northern Britain. Pain Clin 1992; 5: 129±35 10
  3. Kraaimaat FW, Bakker AH, Janssen E, Bijlsma WJ. Intrusiveness of rheumatoid arthritis on sexuality in male and female patients living with a spouse. Arthritis Care Res 1996; 9: 120±5 27
  4. Malleson PN, Connell H, Bennet S, Eccleston C. Chronic idiopathic pain syndromes. Arch Dis Child 2001; 84: 193±9 31
  5. McDermid AJ, Rollman GB, McCain GA. Generalized hypervigilance in ®bromyalgia: evidence of perceptual ampli®cation. Pain 1996; 66: 133±44 35
  6. Morris DB. The culture of pain. Berkeley (CA): University of California Press, 1991
  7. Richardson PH. Placebo effects in pain management. Pain Rev 1994; 1: 15±32 44
  8. Sharpe M, Mayou R, Seagroatt V, et al. Why do doctors ®nd some patients dif®cult to help? Q J Med 1994; 87: 187±93 49

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Authors
Eccleston, C.
Affiliations
University of Bath (GB)
Corresponding author
Eccleston, C.
Venue
British Journal of Anaesthesia
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2001-07
Volume
87
Issue
1
Pages
144-152
ISSN
0007-0912 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2119351869
Cited by
235
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 13
FWCI
0.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • British Journal of Anaesthesia (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
Keywords
chronic pain, pain management, psychological factors in pain, psychosocial environment, pain beliefs, pain-related disability, pain catastrophizing, pain-related hopelessness, pain-related helplessness, pain-related guilt, pain-related shame, pain-related depression, pain-related anxiety
MeSH terms
Chronic Disease, Humans, Pain, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Evidence-Based Medicine, Pain Management

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