Body image concerns and distortions in people with persistent pain

摘要

In this issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Pain, Siinder-mann and coworkers [1] report on body image concerns in people with persistent pain. Through a small qualitative study they investigate body image concerns and coping in seven volunteers suffering from persistent pain. Body image distortions is a well-known phenomenon in clinical psychology, particularly relating to patients with eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorders (BDD) [2]. Somewhat surprisingly, though, this phenomenon has not received much attention within persistent pain research, besides from studies of cortical (misrepresentations associated with conditions such as phantom limb pain and complex regional pain syndrome. The subjective experience of body image in patients with persistent pain, however, is largely unknown, and is therefore in great need of further scientific scrutiny.