Drugs/Therapy

Chronic Pain Treatable with Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Behavior Therapy

By S.C. Stringfellow | Update Date: Sep 07, 2012 07:43 AM EDT

 According to a study published in Ccohrane Systemic Review, researchers found that cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Behavior Therapy (BT) can help treat disability inflicted by chronic pain.

Both forms of therapy aim to combat pain by addressing the psychological and practicable aspects of it.

According to the report "CBT involves the avoidance of negative thoughts. BT helps patients to understand how they can change their behavior in order to reduce pain."

Both have been studied as effective treatment methods in Autism therapy and for chronic insomnia and fatigue. The approaches have been in development for about 40 years and are currently recommended for patients with long lasting, distressing pain that cannot be relieved by conventional medicines.

The results were based on 40 trials, including 4,781 patients suffering from pain due to any cause, except headache, migraine, or cancer, were included. The findings showed that most CBT, had positive effects on pain, disability, and mood. BT, while promising for pain, had little to no effect on disability or mood.

"Although there is overall promise for CBT in chronic pain, the term covers a diverse range of treatment and assessment procedures.

But, he adds as a qualifier,

"Right now, we are not able to say which specific features of therapy may be critical forimprovement of a patient's condition," says lead researcher Christopher Eccleston, at the Center for Pain Research at the University of Bath.

According to Clinical Psychologist Lisa A. Napolitano, Ph.D of CBT/dBT Associates of New York, CBT and BT have been modified to also treat anxiety, eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, phobias and even relationship.

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