[1] This disorder often occurs after an accident, during an illness that has caused pain, or after withdrawing from use during drug addiction, which then takes on a 'life' of its own.
[2] Common side effects or comorbidities of pain disorder include: depression; anxiety; inactivity; disability; sleep disturbance; fatigue; and disruption of social relationships.
[citation needed] In many cases, pain levels can vary depending on circumstances, and can often be moderated to some extent by activity and mood.
[1] There are, however, authors who propose that the diagnosis for unexplained pain should be adjustment disorder because it does not pathologize individuals with this medical condition.
According to a study performed at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, antidepressants have an analgesic effect on patients with pain disorder.
[10] Prescription and nonprescription pain medications do not help and can actually hurt if the patient experiences side effects or develops an addiction.
[3] There are also interventions known as pain control programs that involve the removal of patients from their usual settings to a clinic or facility that provides inpatient or outpatient treatments.
Physicians may refer a patient to a psychologist after conducting medical evaluations, learning about any psychosocial problems in the family, discussing possible connections of pain with stress, and assuring the patient that the treatment will be a combination between medical and psychological care.
Pain questionnaires, screening instruments, interviews, and inventories may be conducted to discover the possibility of somatoform disorders.