explain
pain
section
1
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20
Pain relies on context
Part 2
T
he issues of context, and thus identification of
ignition cues, are so important in the pain experience.
Here are somemore examples.
Pain in the office is common. It may be worse when the
boss is present, depending on your relationshipwith the
boss. Here the environment is a critical cue withmany
contributing subplots. This image is a reminder of the
contribution of gender roles, sexism, sense of control,
workload and ergonomics in pain experiences.
A pimple is never desirable. But that pimplemight feel
enormous and bemore painful to touch if you are about
to go out on an important date, businessmeeting or
school photo session. Youmay even touch and play with
it evenmore.
Pain is dependent on its perceived cause. For example
post-breast surgery, patientswho attribute pain to
returning cancer havemore intense and unpleasant pain
than those who attribute it to another cause, regardless
of what is actually happening in the tissues.
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