ABSTRACT
Pain is a complex psychological construct that involves sensory, affective, and evaluative aspects (Melzack & Wall, 1982). The treatment of the sensory aspects of pain have been described elsewhere (Erickson, 1967; Barber, 1982; Schwarz, 1984; Sacerdote, 1970, 1982). In order to effectively discuss the psychological treatment of anxiety and depressive issues in pain states, it would be heuristic to have a psychological epistemology of pain that accounts for these issues. The definition of pain that is used in this chapter was derived from previous definitions (Melzack & Wall, 1982; Mersky et al., 1979; Sternbach, 1968), and specifically addresses the roles that mediating variables such as anxiety and depression have in perception of pain. Pain can be defined as follows:
It is subjective experience that is mediated by idiopathic variables of the individual within the context of his or her environment.
A necessary but not sufficient condition for the presence of pain is a noxious somatosensory experience, that may or may not be due to actual injury.
Individuals can be said to be “in pain” if, and only if, they experience suffering (measured in terms of negative affect and aversive drive) as a perceived consequence of the sensory experience (Schwarz, 1984, p. 4).
