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A Pathways Approach to Chronic Pain

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Integrative Pathways

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Abstract

Chronic pain is a major cause of human suffering and impairment in function, affecting not only individuals, but also families, productivity in the workplace and society. Selected mechanisms involved in the transformation of acute pain into chronic debilitating pain are discussed. Two cases, one of a patient with chronic migraine and another case of a sufferer of back pain are presented in detail. The multi-level Pathways Model is applied to each case. The patient with migraine had a history of sexual abuse and met criteria for major depressive disorder. The example chosen for low back pain is that of a married man whose wife is emotionally and physically ill. He is stuck in past memories of a highly successful period of his life when he was a high school star athlete. Both patients were able to reduce pain, but perhaps even more importantly, they acquired healthier lifestyle behaviors, learned coping skills, and lessened symptoms of anxiety and depression. Although the interventions did not cure their pain, their suffering from chronic pain decreased and their ability to function in their personal world improved.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Coherence is a term introduced by the HeartMath Institute to describe a “physiological mode that encompasses a range of distinct but related phenomena, including synchronization, entrainment, and resonance, all of which emerge from the harmonious interactions of the bodyʼs subsystems” (McCraty, 2002, p. 24). Operationally, trainees earn high coherence scores by increasing overall heart rate variability (HRV), specifically by increasing the percentage of the total power of HRV falling within the low frequency range, that is, between 0.04 and 0.26 Hz in the HRV power spectrum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

    Angele McGrady PhD

  2. College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, Saybrook University, Oakland, CA, USA

    Donald Moss PhD Dean

Authors
  1. Angele McGrady PhD
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  2. Donald Moss PhD Dean
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McGrady, A., Moss, D. (2018). A Pathways Approach to Chronic Pain. In: Integrative Pathways. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89313-6_6

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