Psychological Evaluations and Chronic Pain: Does My Doctor Think I"m Crazy?
When patients are seeking treatment for chronic back pain, they often see surgery as the best, most effective treatment option. When physicians order psychological evaluations before undertaking spine surgery, or before implanting devices such as the intrathecal pump or spinal cord stimulator, patients often get worried. "Does my doctor not believe me?" they wonder. "Does my doctor think I'm crazy?"
Actually, when your physician refers you for psychological evaluation, that is a good indicator that you are receiving excellent care. Evaluating psychological factors before invasive treatment for chronic pain is the standard of care for best medical practice. Your physician is assuring that you are receiving the full diagnostic work-up needed to make important medical decisions.
Psychological evaluations are useful because what happens in your thoughts and your mind has a direct biochemical impact on your brain and your body. Depression, anxiety, stress and trauma are not only experiences in your mind and your feelings. They are "mind/brain/body" experiences, and the impact on your body is both powerful and negative.
The research shows that surgery is not effective for reducing pain for patients with some psychological risk factors, such as depression, anxiety and trauma. Even more importantly, those risk factors can be good indicators that surgery may even make your pain worse.
Pre-surgical psychological evluations are done to improve your chance for treatment success by screening for risk factors which predict poor outcome. They can also help your doctor improve your outcome by identifying and treating difficulties that may cause problems with your full recovery.
Medicare and many other insurance companies now require pre-surgical evaluation for implantable devices such as spinal cord stimulators. They ask you to do the evaluation because they know the research, and they want you to have the best treatment possible, and they want to protect you from risk for complications.
Your pre-surgical psychological evaluation allows your physician to assess possible indicators of success or threats to success, and to plan your treatment accordingly. This reduces your risk for undergoing procedures with little chance of success, and allows for the addition of treatments which can enhance and optimize success for the treatments you do.
So--there's no need to worry! If you have been referred for a psychological evaluation, you can rest assured that your physician is offering you the best care possible for your pain problems.
Actually, when your physician refers you for psychological evaluation, that is a good indicator that you are receiving excellent care. Evaluating psychological factors before invasive treatment for chronic pain is the standard of care for best medical practice. Your physician is assuring that you are receiving the full diagnostic work-up needed to make important medical decisions.
Psychological evaluations are useful because what happens in your thoughts and your mind has a direct biochemical impact on your brain and your body. Depression, anxiety, stress and trauma are not only experiences in your mind and your feelings. They are "mind/brain/body" experiences, and the impact on your body is both powerful and negative.
The research shows that surgery is not effective for reducing pain for patients with some psychological risk factors, such as depression, anxiety and trauma. Even more importantly, those risk factors can be good indicators that surgery may even make your pain worse.
Pre-surgical psychological evluations are done to improve your chance for treatment success by screening for risk factors which predict poor outcome. They can also help your doctor improve your outcome by identifying and treating difficulties that may cause problems with your full recovery.
Medicare and many other insurance companies now require pre-surgical evaluation for implantable devices such as spinal cord stimulators. They ask you to do the evaluation because they know the research, and they want you to have the best treatment possible, and they want to protect you from risk for complications.
Your pre-surgical psychological evaluation allows your physician to assess possible indicators of success or threats to success, and to plan your treatment accordingly. This reduces your risk for undergoing procedures with little chance of success, and allows for the addition of treatments which can enhance and optimize success for the treatments you do.
So--there's no need to worry! If you have been referred for a psychological evaluation, you can rest assured that your physician is offering you the best care possible for your pain problems.
