Asking the question on the measure for psychological pain is to reflect on psychopathology of pain. As we know, pain is purely an emotional response to either a damage, potential damage or a pointer to an organic distress. Pain either localised or centralised is always accompanied with emotional/psychological responses. However, a pain emanating from long time emotional/psychological events such as bereavement can be perceived significantly different from a pain resulting from potential organic malfunction. Either way, the assessment of pain remains at subjective level, we just must believe the patient expression of his/her pain. Only that a clinician must be able to discern a subtle change in the pain perception of the patient. Pain must always be related with activity or functional performance. This must be determined without the full conscious contribution of the patient. It must be assessed at the 'patient's unaware state', then we can make an objective inference from the assessment by correlating patient's expression with our performance-related assessment.

Brahmia,

By IASP pain is defined as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage (orig. 1964 Harold Merskey). So I agree with Caleb that pain is always psychological (using this perspective), because it is currently seen as subjective experience.

But there are a lot of problems in our postmodern discussion of pain. One is the question of pain concepts in different cultures, the other one is the technical term 'nociception' that is often used in scientific literature about pain. So pain is naturalized and biologized.

In the end it seems unclear, what concrete is the same in headache, back pain, pain by trauma, tooth pain and statements of people that they had a painful experience. If it is only the fact that there is meant some kind of suffering than the difference between the concepts of suffering and pain becomes unclear.

So the question is, what are your reasons to differentiate between physical, psychological and social pain and how you discriminate these three categories.

The widespread used measurements ‘McGill Pain Questionnaire’ or in Germany the ‘SES’ have two reliable dimensions a sensory component and an emotional component. Some measures also have a cognitive scale.

But perception, emotion and cognition are psychological aspects.

If we usually talk about bio-psycho-social models in pain medicine the categories are assumed to be part of pain or different points of view on pain.

In the end I think, that pain is much more than these three perspectives indicate. It can alternatively seen as human event that is relevant in culture(s), arts, philosophy and religion as well as in medicine, psychology, other sciences, interpersonal relations and the social world … .

Regards Thomas

Thank you very much dear, Thomas