Der Schmerz
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Psychological methods for the treatment of chronic pain have been developed within the contextual framework of behavioral medicine during the past few years. Some of these self-control approaches focus on the patient's capacity to cope actively with pain. Standardized self-control training for outpatient group treatment for patients with chronic pain is described. ⋯ Thirty-three patients with chronic back pain were assigned either to one of four treatment groups (n=22) or to a waiting list control group (n=11). After 12 sessions of group treatment, patients showed significant improvement regarding daily ratings of pain intensity and mood and a significant decrease in depression and general physical complaints other than pain; the waiting list patients remained the same. Results showed good maintenance at the half-year follow-up.
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Perceptual disorders in patients with migraine are common and therefore well known in the optic sense. However, a review of the literature reveals a variety of perceptual phenomena with regard to all of the senses as well as disturbances in body image and physical sensations. The criteria for interpreting these phenomena in the context of migraine disorder, even if they are not accompanied by headache, are: the reaction to migraine therapy; previous occurrence, together with a migraine headache; a family history of migraine. From a psychopathological perspective, selected features of the phenomena and questions regarding terminology are discussed: the phenomena should be referred to as hallucinations, the headache itself is real and should not be called a hallucination.