This handbook reviews the physiological, emotional, personality, and environmental factors affecting the nature and extent of pain complaints and disability. It will be a vital resource for behavioral medicine specialists and health care workers.
Pain syndromes involve a complex interaction of medical and psychological factors. In each syndrome unique physiological mechanisms are mediated by emotional states, personality traits, and environmental pressures to determine the nature and extent of pain complaints and pain-related disability. The Handbook addresses the complexities of chronic pain in three ways.
Section I describes general concerns that cross-cut the different syndromes, such as the use of narcotic pain medications, the detection of deception and malingering, and the epidemiology of pain. Section II presents comprehensive reviews of a wide range of pain syndromes. Each covers basic pathophysiology, psychological factors found to influence the course of the syndrome, and syndrome-specific multidisciplinary treatment approaches. Most of the Section II chapters are coauthored by psychologists and physicians. Section III discusses pain in special populations, including the elderly and children.
The Handbook is the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and integrated single-volume resource for all those professionally concerned with pain.
"...a unique contribution to the field of chronic pain in that every chapter attempts a comprehensive biopsychosocial presentation of the topic....This book is a very valuable resource for the experienced as well as beginning health care professional working with pain patients, particularly mental health professionals, who need to learn about or review a particular pain syndrome from either the medical or psychological perspective....The book is very well written, well organized both between chapters and within chapters, and well-referenced with relatively up to date references....It is a must for every pain clinician and/or researcher's bookshelf."
—Journal of Health Psychology
