Pain: New Perspectives in Therapy and Research

With the growing realization that pain and its control are vital areas for both theoretical and practical research as well as clinical treatment has come the desire for an assessment of the state-of-the-art. Pain research by itself is not new. Yet, approaches to the study and control of pain are new. This book is based upon a symposium-workshop on the study and control of pain that took place at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, January, 1975. It was destgned to deal with a number of theoretical and clinical issues. We at- tempted to assess previous years of research, how conceptions of pain phenomena have changed and what are some of the gaps in our knowledge. Presentations were also geared to show our increased methodological sophistication. Clinically, we have also changed our treatment conceptualization of pain control. We have not merely added a few "tricks" to deal with pain. Entirely new approaches are now available. View- ing pain as a public health problem we find many areas of needed research that should be directed toward the epidemio- logy of pain, the reduction of fear of obtaining health care, and unmet treatment needs. Obviously, this book cannot provide full, comprehensive treatment of all the issues involved. It can, however, pro- vide the reader with an understanding of the current, major thrusts, new research and treatment goals in pain control.