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Pain catastrophizing: an updated review.
1Department of Family Medicine, Centre of Neurosciences Study, Centre of Studies in Primary Care, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine
|February 27, 2013
Summary
Pain catastrophizing, a phenomenon of helplessness and magnification, negatively impacts pain coping and prognosis. Advances in genomics and neuroimaging are beginning to reveal its underlying determinants and mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
Background:
- Pain catastrophizing, recognized for over 50 years, involves helplessness, rumination, and magnification.
- It adversely affects pain coping behaviors and prognosis in susceptible individuals.
- Potential demographic or psychological predispositions exist.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the nature and mechanisms of pain catastrophizing.
- To review proposed models including attention-bias, schema-activation, communal-coping, and appraisal.
- To highlight recent advances in understanding its determinants and neurophysiological correlates.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on pain catastrophizing.
- Incorporation of recent findings from population genomics.
- Integration of insights from noninvasive neuroimaging techniques.
Main Results:
- Pain catastrophizing is characterized by specific cognitive and emotional responses to pain.
- Various theoretical models attempt to explain its occurrence.
- Population genomics and neuroimaging offer new avenues for understanding its basis.
Conclusions:
- Consensus on the exact nature and mechanisms of pain catastrophizing is still developing.
- Recent technological advancements are crucial for elucidating its determinants.
- Further research is needed to fully understand this disabling behavior.
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