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Updated: May 23, 2026
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Quantifying Pain Location and Intensity with Multimodal Pain Body Diagrams
Published on: July 7, 2023
We need to talk about psychological pain
1University of California—San Francisco, School of Nursing, Department of Community Health Systems, 2 KoretWay, Suite N-505, San Francisco, CA 94143-0608, USA. esther.meerwijk@ucsf.edu
Issues in Mental Health Nursing
|April 4, 2012
Summary
Defining psychological pain is crucial before adding it to healthcare pain management standards. This ensures clarity in terminology, measurement, and intervention for better patient care.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry and Mental Health
- Healthcare Policy
Background:
- The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' pain management standard is a critical healthcare policy.
- Dr. Shattell proposed including psychic pain in this standard.
- Current understanding and application of 'psychic pain' lack standardization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the need for consensus on psychological pain within healthcare.
- To propose a foundational definition for psychological pain.
- To facilitate future research and clinical development in this area.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and conceptual analysis.
- Response to existing scholarly suggestions.
- Development of a working definition.
Main Results:
- Agreement on terminology, measurement, and intervention is a prerequisite for standard inclusion.
- A proposed definition of psychological pain is offered.
Conclusions:
- A clear definition of psychological pain is essential for its integration into healthcare standards.
- Further research and discussion are needed to refine the concept and its clinical application.
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