Bias: Is pain all the same?

The topic of how we define pain, and how humans respond to pain has come up for me as I mull over the IASP definition of pain. The current (new) definition is this: An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage. Six key notes: Pain is always a personal experience that is influenced to varying degrees by biological, psychological, and social factors.Pain and nociception are different phenomena. Pain cannot be inferred solely from activity in sensory neurons.Through their life experiences, individuals learn the concept of pain.A person’s report of an experience as pain should be respected.Although pain usually serves an adaptive role, it may have adverse effects on function and social and psychological well-being.Verbal description is only one of several behaviors to express pain; inability to communicate does not negate the possibility that a human or a nonhuman animal experiences pain. Now, for me the definition works fine – definitions describe and establish boundaries around what is being defined. Definitions don’t have to include all the uses of the term but instead just have to be distinct and clear, to “express the essential nature of something” as Merriam-Webster puts it. Alongside this definition are notes about the function of pain – in other words, the notes (but not the definition) attempt to indicate why we experience pain. ‘...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Education Education/CME Pain conditions acute pain function IASP definition maldynia metaphor pain definition persistent pain purpose Source Type: blogs