Childhood abuse and chronic pain : a curious relationship? / Ranjan Roy.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Devoted to a comprehensive exploration of abuse and its role in the genesis of pain, this book will enable clinicians to identify pain-prone behaviour and to deal with the issues and challenges that patients with this condition present.

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CHOICE Review

Since their discovery as social problems in the 1970s, child abuse and neglect have been the subject of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of studies. Although study results show a wide range of long-term negative effects, the link between severe maltreatment and the later development of chronic physical pain has yet to be proven empirically. However, clinicians at specialized pain clinics have found a relationship between the two in their work with adult patients suffering from unexplained physical pain. Using more than 20 case examples from his clinical practice, Roy makes a convincing case for attending to the significance of childhood abuse in treating patients with chronic pain. (He also advocates strongly for more carefully designed controlled studies that would show causality.) The book consists of nine chapters. One is an overview of research on the effects of maltreatment. Four chapters are devoted to case studies of adult patients who have experienced various forms of abuse. Three chapters focus on therapeutic issues, including one on the impact on the patient of disclosing earlier abuse. A brief epilogue summarizes the book's key themes. Recommended for health and mental health care providers. Upper-division undergraduates and above. B. A. Pine; University of Connecticut