Coping with chronic pain
Chronic pain is a problem that affects millions of individuals every year. Much of chronic pain is associated with significant progressive degenerative disease. Such diseases include arthritis and cancer, and involve prolonged severe pain which may be only partially ameliorated through the use of analgesic medication. This chapter examines the ways in which individuals cope with chronic pain. We describe how pain coping is conceptualized and measured and discuss what has been learned about adaptive and maladaptive methods for coping with chronic pain. We conclude with an exploration of new directions for research in this area. Coping with chronic pain Coping has been defined as the process of managing stressful situations, either external or internal, that are viewed as taxing an individual’s adaptive resources (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The ways in which individuals view or appraise potentially stressful situations is an important component of this process definition of coping. In chronic pain, the ways in which a patient views pain are particularly important in their reactions to pain. Individuals may view pain as unpredictable and feel very little control over pain flares. Conversely, they may view pain as a constant irritation but one that can often be dealt with successfully. Coping with pain can be thought of as cognitions and behaviours that serve to manage or decrease the sensation of pain and distress caused by pain. Within this basic framework, researchers have formulated several models of pain-coping.
