The Psychological and Social Factors That Can Influence the Way an Individual Experiences Pain
INTRODUCTION
This paper focuses on thepsychological and social factors that can influence the way an individual experiences pain. To this end, the major psychological and social factors linked to the pain experiences are summarized and an impression of the way they have been incorporated into the major pain model in the scientific text.
• Discuss the different types of pain;acute pain comes on unexpectedly and has a restricted duration. On the other hand, chronic lasts for a long duration than acute and is usually rather resistant to therapy(Kasch et al. 2011).
• Discuss the gate-control theory of pain .
• Outline how the pain enters through our bodies through localized or diffuse for instance in fibromyalgia (Linton & Shaw 2011).
• Discuss both psychological and social factors that can influence the way an individual experiences pain(Boersma & Linton 2005).
• Outline the outcome of pain emotionally as well as behavioral outcomes and how it can be treated (Kasch et al. 2011 ).
BODY
• Pain is a horrid sensory as well as an emotional experience that is linked to real or potential tissue injury. It is always subjective and has both emotional and physical components (Linton & Shaw 2011).
• Discuss both psychological and social factors that can influence the way an individual experiences pain(Inui & Kakigi 2012 ).
Psychological factors
Psychological factors are mainly prominent in patients with chronic pain, other than the pain psychology knowledge can as well significantly become the therapy of acute pain. Some of the psychological factors incorporates;
• Attention – Focusing on an individual’s attention on pain worsens the pain.For instance, in women the existence of an acquaintance has been seen to trigger the pain (Boersma & Linton 2005).
• Anxiety – fear, as well as loss of control impacts on the patient’s suffering(Inui & Kakigi 2012).
• Memory – Individuals with low pain levels considered it as being worse compared to what they initially reported which is likely to worsen gradually (Buckner et al. 2010).
• Expectations – Ideally, the expectations of patients on the quantity of pain they are supposed to have as well the influence on the quantity of pain they experience and their treatment response (Linton &Shaw 2011 ).
Social factors that influences how individual experiences pain.
• Culture – religious beliefs, customs and social appraisal or social factors, the perceptions as well as experience of pain which varies with an individual. For example, among Chinese, pain is always understood in light of life energy/force(McClelland & McCubbin 2008 ).
• Gender – In general, men and women differ significantly in response to pain. For example, an experimental study conducted by (Laura et al.2008 p.414) which was based on finding out responses to pain in women and men found out that women experienced more pain at certain times when compared to men.
• Age – children have difficulty understanding the procedures that cause pain measures. On the other hand, elderlypeople have the ability to interpret and understand the concept of pain(Kasch et al. 2011).
• Support of family and friends’ – people who experiences pain often depend on family members for support and protection. Although pain is still felt, presence of a loved one will reduce the pain(Buckner et al.2010 ).
In conclusion, there is currently extensive evidencewhich suggestthat psychological and social factors impact on pain perception. However, neuroimaging studies have proven that action in pain pathways remains altered by the above mentioned factors. Similarly, these factors trigger intrinsic brain modulator for instance, those triggered when opiates are administered for relief of pain .
REFERENCES
Boersma, K, & Linton, S 2005, ‘How does persistent pain develop? An analysis of the relationship between psychological variables, pain and function across stages of chronicity’, Behaviour Research & Therapy, 43, 11 , pp. 1495-1507.
Buckner, J, DeWall, C, Schmidt, N, & Maner, J 2010, ‘A Tale of Two Threats: Social Anxiety and Attention to Social Threat as a Function of Social Exclusion and Non-Exclusion Threats’, Cognitive Therapy & Research, 34, 5, pp. 449-455.
Inui, K, & Kakigi, R 2012, ‘Pain perception in humans: use of intraepidermal electrical stimulation’, Journal Of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 83, 5, pp. 551-556.
Kasch, H, Qerama, E, Kongsted, A, Bach, F, Bendix, T, & Jensen, T 2011, ‘The Risk Assessment Score in Acute Whiplash Injury Predicts Outcome and Reflects Biopsychosocial Factors’, Spine (03622436), 36, pp. S263-S267.
Linton, S, & Shaw, W 2011, ‘Impact of Psychological Factors in the Experience of Pain’, Physical Therapy, 91, 5, pp. 700-711.
McClelland, L, & McCubbin, J 2008, ‘Social influence and pain response in women and men’, Journal Of Behavioral Medicine, 31, 5, pp. 413-420.
Myers, DG &DeWall (ed) 2015, Psychology 11th Edition, Worth Publishers, New York.
Essay Plan Feedback Introductory Psychology
Student’s Name: Salome Wangari
Fail Poor Satisfactory Good Excellent Marks
Topic Analysis 1 2 3 4 5 3.5
Coherence & Structure of Plan 1 2 3 4 5 3.25
Clarity of Expression 0 1 1.5 2 3 1.5
References 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 1.75
Total Mark: 10
Percentage: 66.7
Sally, you have some good factors that you intend to discuss within your essay. However, please do not discuss age and gender as they are biological factors.
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