Most of us have spent the better part of our lives thinking of pain as an inevitable by-product of an injury or an ailment. A turn-of-the-century declaration by the United States Congress, which proclaimed 2001-2010 as the "Decade of Pain", however, has played a major role in transforming this perception. Today, pain is no longer perceived by the medical fraternity as only a "physical entity", but as a more complex amalgamation of physical, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual factors. This, say Dr Mary Abraham, a pain management and palliative care specialist at Max Hospital, and Dr Vandana V Prakash, a mental health and behavioural sciences expert, who are also the authors of a new book titled Conquering Pain (HarperCollins India), has had a transformative impact on the way pain is managed and treated.

Understanding pain

Pain, as defined by the International Association of the Study of Pain, is both an unpleasant physical and emotional experience — this means that distress is a natural reaction to any kind of pain, the authors say. Even in acute pain, such as pain after surgery or pain due to a fracture, sufferers often become extremely anxious and may even experience panic attacks thinking about the impending pain they will have to bear. When pain becomes chronic and prolonged, there is a far greater impact on the psyche of the sufferer, leading to depression and anxiety.