ABSTRACT
The consensus panel of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the American Pain Society introduced the concept of “pseudoaddiction” to define the state of drug-seeking that accompanies untreated or undertreated pain. The American Society of Addiction Medicine has also promulgated position statements regarding the rights and responsibilities of physicians who use opioids for the treatment of pain. The concept of pain as a biopsychosocial disease rather than a hard-wired function is relatively recent. The plan would be implemented, often in the context of a multidisciplinary pain program. The patient has to be reassured that physical activity is beneficial and not harmful: in the vernacular “use it or lose it; no pain, no gain.” Controversy surrounds the interactions between chronic pain and depression. Chronic pain states contribute to the development of abnormal illness behaviors. Chronic pain is becoming accepted as a disorder of the neuromatrix with defined structural, chemical, and functional changes, and not a voluntary defect of personality.
