Abstrakt
Chronic pain syndromes pose a significant public health challenge: approximately 20% of sick leave are due to back pain, the most frequent single illness-related cause of days missed at work. On the other hand, we find a constant augmentation of the medical infrastructure dedicated to the treatment of pain: since the foundation of the first German specialized pain department in 1971, the number of these and similar institutions has increased to more than 600.
This discrepancy casts doubt on the exclusive placement of the diagnosis and therapy of pain syndromes within the biomedical domain. This talk aims at laying a foundation for the discussion of this issue following three steps:.
The biomedical perspective: a short overview of the biomedical concept of pain will illustrate that pain is a complex phenomenon that is amenable to and modifiable by a number of factors.. The history of pain: within the biomedical concept, chronic pain lacks meaning (in contrast to acute pain as a warning sign of possible bodily harm).
On the other hand, pain has historically been charged with significance - such as in the context of initiation rites, way of religious enlightenment, or inspiration of creative impulses.. The philosophical view: the philosophical concept of pain is at least as complex as the biomedical one.
As an example, a phenomenological approach focussing on the mutual interaction of pain and the limits of the 'lived body' (Leib) will be discussed.