Comparison of Acute and Chronic Pain - Assignment Example

Pain/Stress Short Answers Questions Compare and Contrast Acute Chronic pain Pain is a sensation of discomfort or an unpleasant sensation in the body. Pain is often taken as a warning sign that there is something physically wrong. It can arise suddenly or grow slowly. Every human being can best gauge the intensity of his or her pain. Pain can vary from being mild and intermittent to severe and perpetual. Pain can be classified into two types acute or chronic. Acute pain can start suddenly and is generally severe. It can be interpreted to indicate that the human body is being affected by a disease or some other threat. The causes of acute pain could be several events or situations like surgery, fractured bones, dental procedures, scalds or wounds, labor and childbirth. Acute pain may also be mild and momentary, or it could be more severe and stay on for a few weeks or even months. Generally, acute pain does not exceed six months and it subsides when its triggering cause has been cured or healed. If acute pain continues, it leads to chronic pain. Unlike acute pain, chronic pain can be felt even after its underlying caused has been treated. The signs of pain remain in the nervous system for weeks, months, or even years. The physical effects of pain can include tense muscles, limited mobility, reduced energy, and fluctuations in sleep, and appetite. The emotional implications of pain include depression, anger, anxiety, and apprehension of the recurrence of injury. A person may thus be unable to indulge in his routine work and activities (Hasenbring, Rusu, & Turk, 2012 ). The most common types of chronic pain prevalence can be in the form of headaches, lower back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain, neurogenic pain, and psychogenic pain. Chronic pain can arise with a trauma or infection, or there may be a continuing cause for it. Some people, however, do experience chronic pain without any previous injury or signs of damage to the body (Cleveland, 2013). 2. Discuss and Evaluate two theories of pain The Specificity theory of pain: According to Von Frey (1895), the human body of comprises a distinct sensory system for feeling pain, just as it does for hearing and seeing. This system consists of its own special receptors for feeling the stimulation of pain, its own peripheral nerves and conduit to the brain, and its particular space of the brain for working through the signals of pain. This particular structure however is not believed to be correct (Harari & Legge, 2001). The Pattern theory of pain: According to Goldschneider (1920) there is no different system for feeling pain and the receptors of pain are the same as those for other senses such as touch. People can feel pain when a particular activity takes place, e.g. when adequate kinds of activities achieve exceedingly high levels in the brain. These patterns take place only with a bit of stimulation. Owing to the fact that both, strong and mild stimulants of the same sense modality give rise to varying patterns of neural activity, being hit hard can feel painful, whereas a touch cannot (Roeckelein, 1998). 3. Critically evaluate two main methods of assessing pain. There are several methods to assess pain, but broadly speaking these can be classified and uni-dimensional and multi-dimensional methods. Uni-dimensional methods: The tools used in the uni-dimensional method of assessing pain gauge just one aspect of the pain experience, e.g. its severity. These tools are accurate, easy to use and understand, and are generally used for assessing acute pain. Uni-dimensional pain assessment tools have a verbal rating scale and verbal descriptive scales, e.g., mild, intense, or moderate, and are generally used for post-surgical pain assessment (Sinatra, Leon-Cassasola, Ginsberg, & Viscusi, 2009 ). Multi-dimensional pain assessment methods: Tools used in the multi-dimensional pain assessment methods gauge both, the qualitative as well as the quantitative aspects of pain. These tools come in handy if a person is suspected of having neuropathic pain. As well, they need patients to be able to communicate easily and remain focused, owing to the fact that it takes longer to assess pain with these tools than it does with the uni-dimensional methods (Macintyre & Schug, 2007). 4. Critically discuss two main methods of pain control. Pain can be managed and controlled through either physical or psychological interventions. Physical medication and rehabilitation makes use of several physical methods such as thermal agents and electrotherapy in addition to therapeutic exercise and behavioral therapy. These techniques may be employed with or without interacting with other interventional methods and traditional pharmacotherapy to control pain. In the psychological pain control intervention, cognitive behavioral therapy helps patients to develop a co-relation between their physiologies, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The main objective is cognitive restructuring is to stimulate positive thought patterns that influence behavioral activities like exercise and meditation. Changes in lifestyles are also encouraged to improve sleep wake cycles and to develop better abilities to cope with pain and other stresses through methods such as relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, and even feedback (Price & Bushnell, 2004). 5. Identify and discuss one incident when you were stressed due to overload (Can be made up) In the summer of 2013, my boss asked me to work aggressively in targeting prospective customers who may be interested in improving their websites and social media content in order to attract more clients to book tour packages. I was given a target of procuring 15 contracts in just the first month and this was rather intense. What caused me a lot of stress was the fact that if I did not exceed or at least achieve the given target, I would be replaced with someone who could be more aggressive and delegate tasks more effectively to the technical team. This would mean not just losing my own position, it also implied that I would get no increase in salary for the current year, and could also be made redundant should the company revise it larger budget and decide to cut down on the number of people presently employed there. While I endeavored doggedly at work, I slept much less, sometimes as little as four hours a night. I tended to skip my meals, skipping from one appointment to another, and grabbing a bag of chips at lunch time. When I did sit down to a meal, my anxieties would lead to binging and I gained a considerable amount of weight. I was often tired and grouchy, and wanted and not feeling energetic enough after work, I would miss my daily exercises. This neglect of personal care resulted in several aches and pains and when I went for a medical investigation at the end of the season, I was put on a diet to avert any risk of contracting diabetes and high blood pressure. I was also encouraged to put my foot down if I felt that my work load was too high to manage without taking adequate care of myself. And I was temporarily put on some mild sedatives to help me to get over the insomnia that had come on as a result of feeling anxious about my deliverables at work. 6. Identify and discuss one incident when you were stressed due to conflict (Can be made up) Throughout my final year at University, I contracted with a friend to share an apartment slightly further from our campus. This turned out to be a bad decision from the very beginning. While the two of us got had gotten along alright when we were not flat mates, we realized that we had completely different ideas with regards to our domestic arrangements. Moreover, my friend was rather dominating in this regard as well and that the perpetual conflict caused me a lot of stress. I would feel inwardly angry at his attitude and that affected my concentration on my studies. I usually gave in to his suggestions for how to arrange the furniture, what groceries to buy, what food to cook, and even when to use the wash room we shared and when to draw our curtains. I would for weeks go on eating supper out and not surprisingly, not only did my money dwindle, but so did my excellent health. Often feeling emotionally drained, I would be curt in my conversations with my family over the phone, causing them to get worried about me as well. Most of all, the inconvenience of constantly feeling the need to adjust, brought on lethargy and headaches that would result in my napping more frequently in the evening, being insomniac at night, and then feeling very tired by the next afternoon. It became rather a vicious cycle until I decided that I would cancel my part of the lease even if it meant foregoing my security deposit with the rental office, and move into a bachelor suite on a different floor. 7. In relation to the above experiences identify 2 problems focused on strategies and 2 emotion strategies for each issue. The strategies identified should be different to question 1 and question 2. Problem-focused coping strategies are aimed at the underlying causes of stress and meant to practically alleviate the problem or situation. As a result, the stress relief brought on is direct effects. Two of the problem-focused strategies include taking control and information seeking. The ‘Taking Control’ method entails altering the co-relation between a person and the cause of his or her stress. This could simply be in the form of finding an escape from or removing the stress itself. In the example discussed in question 6, I decide to move out, and hence escaped a stressful situation of living with my flat mate. The ‘Information Seeking’ method is comparatively more prudent. It entails trying to understand a situation and to take in stride. Cognitive strategies may be employed to avoid stressful situations in the future. In my case, I could have considered having a talk with my room-mate and coming to understanding with him with regards to how we could be more compatible as flat mates, rather than always giving in to his preferences and then feeling angry about it (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2013). Emotion-focused coping strategies entail attempting to allay the negative emotional reactions linked with stress, e.g. embarrassment, trepidation, anxiety, depression, elation, and frustration. These strategies may be the only means to deal with stress when its underlying cause is out of a person’s control. Two effective emotion-focused strategies can include keeping busy to keep the mind off a stressful issue or distracting one’s self through means such as watching T.V, playing a video game, or eating (Taylor, 2006). In my example discussed in question 6, I could have immersed myself in my studies or extra-curricular so that I would probably not have felt annoyed with my flat mate and perhaps have found it easier to live contentedly with him throughout my final year at university. 8. Evaluate the 4 problems focused strategies and 4 emotion focused strategies identified in Question 3. Problem focused strategies aims at the causes of the stress in a concrete manner which aims to solve the problem or stressful conditions. These measures are taken to reduce the amount of stress which is directly been observed. In general, problem focused strategies involve the stressor and are linked with solving the underlying causes of the problem providing a long term solution. Emotion focused strategies involve reducing the negative emotional responses which are related with stress. It includes fear, despair, frustration and the feeling of humiliation. Emotion focused strategies and applied when the source of stress is outside the individual’s control (MacArthur, 1998). 9. Describe and critically evaluate 3 strategies of stress management. Three strategies that have been proven by psychological research to help in alleviating stress, both, in the short and long run include: Taking a break from stress source: This may not be very easy, especially when there is a major project at stake, or a distressed infant, or a large utility bill. But if and when one allows oneself to do something different for a while, it can help to achieve a new perspective or to practice ways to feeling less overpowered by responsibilities. Equally necessary is to avoid the responsibilities in order that they don’t pile up, but short, periodic escapes help a person to re-charge, feel more energetic, and less overwhelmed (Venkateswarlu, Shanker, Shanker, & Maheswari, 2011). Exercising: There is more and more evidence that supports the advantages of exercise, for both, the mind and the body. It is often heard that there are several long-term benefits if maintaining a regular exercise schedule. But even short physical movement such as a 15 minutes brisk walk or jog, a few laps in the swimming pool, and even taking a few dancing steps go a long way in stimulating a person, bring on an energetic and positive feeling that last for quite a while! Meditation: This strategy along with prayers or repetitive positive affirmations enables the human body to relax and concentrate. Being more mindful can help people to think broadly, lift their self-esteem, and be more compassionate. When practicing mindfulness, people are able to let go of emotions that are stressful on their mind and body. Just like exercise, research has indicated that meditation is extremely beneficial in alleviating stress. It is necessary to mention that while each of the above strategies for coping with stress is extremely helpful, one should not avoid stress for prolonged periods. The simple reason for this is that if matters are delayed they may be forgotten or one may be left with less time to attend to them. As a result, more stress can be caused, and an individual would never be capable to break free from the cycle of feeling tense or even overwhelmed, contracting possible harm to his mental and physical health (Association). 10. Outline the relationship between stress and ill-health, referring to personality types and social support, and with reference to supporting psychological evidence. Everyone experiences stress at certain stage in life and the surge of something happening sudden and unexpected. Stress is associated with the individual perception of the environmental events and it arises when a person appraises a situation as threatening or demanding and is also perceived to respond to appropriate response. Stress is considered as a major contributor in universal spread of diseases which is affecting millions of individuals and communities all over the world. Stress is a mental disorder which usually involves mood depression, loss of interest in work, lower energy levels which is combined with guilty feeling or low self-esteem. This all leads to sleep disturbances, loss of appetite and concentration imbalances. Stress is also listed as the primary reason of disability both in males and females whereas the stress of depression in females is 50% higher as compared to males. Moreover it is evident that stress exists both in high income, low and middle income countries and women are majorly burdened with this disease. Stress is mostly overlooked in men as they are the ones who find it difficult to converse about in contrast to women. A man usually denies his feelings and tries to hide it even from himself and masks them with immature behaviours. Men who suffer from stress are likely to commit suicide, having 50% higher probability than women. It is apparent that men who have untreated stress are likely to show more anger, aggravation and violence behavior in comparison to women. High risk of suicide is associated with stress if they are left untreated or are ended at a point of under-treated depression. Stress is treatable and there are chances that patients will recover if competent care is provided. Licensed psychologists who are highly trained mental professionals having years of experience are able to recover patients undergoing stress disorders. Some health care professionals favor a combination of psychotherapy and medications (Herbert & Cohen, 1994). If stress remains long after some stage of fight the body starts entering into a second stage of stress. When a body is present in the stage of stress the working reaction of the nervous system starts declining. Eventually the stress continues at above normal levels and the body becomes unable to handle the difficult situations and enters in the state of depression. When stress in increased at the stage of depression there is a risk of developing ill-health (Salleh, 2008). References Association, A. P., n.d. Tips to Manage Stress. [Online] Available at: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/manage-stress.aspx Cleveland, 2013. Treatments & Procedures Acute vs. Chronic Pain. [Online] Available at: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/pain_management/hic_acute_vs_chronic_pain.aspx Harari, P. & Legge, K., 2001. Psychology and Health. s.l.:Heinemann. Hasenbring, M. I., Rusu, A. 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Taylor, 2006. Health Psychology. s.l.:Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Venkateswarlu, B., Shanker, A. K., Shanker, C. & Maheswari, M., 2011. Crop Stress and its Management: Perspectives and Strategies: Perspectives and Strategies. s.l.:Springer. Read More