The prognosis is worse when there are more areas of pain reported. Treatment may include psychotherapy (with cognitive-behavioral therapy or operant conditioning), medication (often with antidepressants but also with pain medications), and sleep therapy. According to a study performed at the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, antidepressants have an analgesic effect on patients suffering from<unk> . In a randomized, placebo-controlled antidepressant treatment study, researchers found that "antidepressants decreased pain intensity in patients with psychogenic pain or somatoform<unk>  significantly more than placebo". Prescription and nonprescription pain medications do not help and can actually hurt if the patient suffers side effects or develops an addiction. Instead, antidepressants and talk therapy are recommended. CBT helps patients learn what worsens the pain, how to cope, and how to function in their life while handling the pain. Antidepressants work against the pain and worry. Unfortunately, many people do not believe the pain "is all in their head," so they refuse such treatments. Other techniques used in the management of chronic pain may also be of use; these include massage, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, trigger point injections, surgical ablation, and non-interventional therapies such as meditation, yoga, and music and art therapy. There are also interventions known as pain control programs that involve the removal of patients from their usual settings to a clinic or facility that provides inpatient or outpatient treatments. These include multidisciplinary or multimodal approaches, which use combinations of cognitive, behavior, and group therapies. Before treating a patient, a psychologist must learn as many facts as possible about the patient and the situation. A history of physical symptoms and a psychosocial history help narrow down possible correlations and causes. Psychosocial history covers the family history of<unk> s and worries about illnesses, chronically ill parents, stress and negative life events, problems with family functioning, and school difficulties (academic and social). These indicators may reveal whether there is a connection between stress-inducing events and an onset or increase in pain, and the removal in one leading to the removal in the other. They also may show if the patient gains something from being ill and how their reported pain matches medical records. Physicians may refer a patient to a psychologist after conducting medical evaluations, learning about any psychosocial problems in the family, discussing possible connections of pain with stress, and assuring the patient that the treatment will be a combination between medical and psychological care. Psychologists must then do their best to find a way to measure the pain, perhaps by asking the patient to put it on a number scale. Pain questionnaires, screening instruments, interviews, and inventories may be conducted to discover the possibility of somatoform<unk> s. Projective tests may also be used.
Pain disorder
Physical disorder
Cognitive disorder
Chronic pain
Cancer pain
Body image disturbance
Stroke recovery
Mental disorder