The British journal of medical psychology
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Review Case Reports
A semiotic perspective on chronic pain: implications for the interaction between patient and physician.
A semiotic conceptualization of pain in the chronic pain syndrome is proposed. It is suggested that among chronic pain patients pain ceases to be an icon or an index and acquires a symbolic structure: this transformation interferes with the usual patient-physician relationship. The semiotic perspective on the structure of meaning in the chronic pain syndrome underlines the need to include a psychotherapeutic approach in the patient-physician relationship; specific aspects of the approach to chronic pain as a symbolic communication are discussed.