Der Schmerz
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The number of invalidity pensions for mental and psychosomatic disorders has dramatically increased in the last decade. Given the experience in sociomedical assessment of people with chronical pain diseases, we developed the impression that primarily social problems-especially long-term unemployment-play an important role in the processes of chronification of pain diseases. We evaluated 100 expert opinions from 2002-2007 according to quantitative and qualitative critieria. ⋯ Only during the course of their disease-usually after the rejection of their application for pension by expert medical opinions-did they receive the diagnosis in the field of psychiatry and psychosomatics. In a next step they were assessed by experts in the field of psychiatry and psychosomatics. In this article, the important social factors that influence this development are discussed.
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Medicine is increasingly being confronted with expectations that it provide more permanent and comprehensive freedom from pain - and the prospect of being pain free is partially even being held out by medical science itself. In our cultural context, there is now the established idea that pain is something that medical science and technology can - and must - "get rid of." This idea is particularly problematic when it comes to chronic pain. Furthermore, it obscures the fact that pain is a significant element of life and one that can have existential meaning. Therefore, it is crucial to reflect on the scope of this wish for medicine to relieve and eliminate pain.
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From the point of view of healthcare policies, improvement in pain care has been required for years; however, there is a great discrepancy between the current need for pain care and the actual provision by healthcare services. This article seeks to demonstrate that while healthcare policies are one of the critical factors involved, a variety of conceptual, diagnostic and therapeutic causes should also be taken into account. Firstly, considering that pain care is primarily concerned with the suffering of pain by patients, the focus lies with their conscious experience in order to define the patients' understanding of pain. Additionally, in this article current biomedical and psychosocial comprehension concerning chronic pain will be illustrated and why it is necessary to broaden our horizons in order to do justice to patients with chronic pain.
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Every professional segment has its own typical forms of stress, which for members result in patterns of bodily conception and interpretation of pain. The way individuals cope with these typical forms of pain reflects their social identity, social status and group membership. In this study pain was investigated from a sociological perspective as a medium contributing to socialization processes in stress collectives. ⋯ The success of specialized treatment of headache depends to a certain extent on the ability of patients to impose a medically regulated life style on their significant others; however, this can conflict with the demands of everyday life.