Many chronic pain patients report frustration with the attitudes they face from friends, family, and health care practitioners. Most often, patients report feeling stigmatized for experiencing pain that doesn’t have a readily identifiable cause.
Pain can have a variety of causes, and there is currently no set standard for diagnosing and treating chronic pain. This lack of standard creates a confusing and frustrating experience for the patient, and a puzzling case for physicians. For some, a lack of known etiology causes the patient to place blame on themselves, when in fact, the lack of knowledge is a result of the limits of medical knowledge (http://bit.ly/HFXzhm). 
Blaming oneself can have destructive consequences, including avoiding getting necessary professional help and actively participating in rehabilitation(http://bit.ly/17Supp1). A strong social support base can reduce feelings of stigmatization and improve coping (http://bit.ly/10chj3G). Support groups for pain patients can be effective in developing coping skills for depressive symptoms that are frequently experienced in patients living with pain, and boosting self-appraised problem-solving confidence (http://bit.ly/1bfJIFK).
Filed under: pain management
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