... One of the problems with chronic pain – there’s a lot of catastrophizing around it. People think this is the way it’s going to be for the rest of their life, and that they are trapped in this horrible pain and it’s only going to get worse. There is tremendous anxiety associated with that. They not only end up taking pain drugs and strong narcotics, but they take a lot of anti-anxiety medications as well.
The whole focus on multidisciplinary programs is to get people functioning again. One of the big drawbacks of long-term opiate use is many people who take these drugs over a long period of time lose physical function. The goal is to restore physical function and to help people learn if they do have chronic pain conditions, they may experience pain for the foreseeable future, but that is not necessarily a barrier to prevent them from living a full, active life.
I'd also rethink the Pain Scale - often called the fifth vital sign. No small part of today's problem with opioids can be traced back to that moment when a symptom became a sign.
Of course that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
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