Chronic pain is a major health problem affecting 10%-50% of the adult population in the country. Chronic pain persists for more than six weeks, and its control requires timely medical intervention (Farrugia, & Fetter, 2009). Poor understanding of the biology of physical pain among patients and healthcare providers is a significant challenge in the treatment of chronic pain.
Chronic pain is a manifestation of mental illnesses. Adults suffering from chronic pain are often diagnosed with varying forms of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia among others. Psychological and social issues like sexual abuses, personality disorder, and drug abuse increase the risk of developing mental illnesses and this results in the development of mental illnesses (Farrugia, & Fetter, 2009).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The relationship between chronic pain and mental illness can be understood by studying the functioning of the central nervous system. The brain regulates all the activities in the body including the transmission of pain sensations originating from different parts of the human anatomy (Farrugia, & Fetter, 2009). Although it is difficult to understand the complex relationship between chronic pain and mental disorders, the correlation is undisputable as per the previous research findings on the topic.
Therefore, mental health counseling is an effective technique for treating chronic pain. Techniques for treating mental illnesses include counseling the patients, psychotropic medications, family therapy, positive psychology, and cognitive-behavioral theory. Due to the health effects of psychotropic medications, health care providers prefer to use the other methods of intervention to permanently eliminate the pain or increase the patients’ pain tolerance. Availability of evidence-based methods of treating chronic pain associated with mental illnesses shows the credibility of using this therapeutic approach. For the 50% of people with chronic illnesses, mental health counseling gives them a new chance to live without experiencing pain.
Reference
Farrugia, D., & Fetter, H. (2009). Chronic pain: Biological understanding and treatment suggestions for mental health counselors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 31(3), 189-200.
