Measurement and assessment of psychological pain / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Psychological pain is a subjective experience, mainly from the psychological needs of frustration. It is characterized by the perception of negative changes in self and its functions, accompanied by strong negative emotions. Psychological pain is often associated with the decline of mental health, which is considered to be the core of the suicide process. A higher level of psychological pain is closely related to suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior. Therefore, the measurement and evaluation of psychological pain plays an important role in outpatient screening, clinical treatment and crisis intervention. In order to improve the recognition of psychological pain and the accuracy of suicide risk prediction, after more than 20 years of application and development, more than 10 methods of measuring psychological pain can be included in clinical risk assessment. The traditional assessment methods are mostly based on Shneidman ’s definition of psychological pain and suicide theory, which are used to measure the intensity and frequency of psychological pain. In recent years, the development of suicide model and theory provides a new perspective and theoretical basis for the assessment of psychological pain. The latest assessment methods tend to be shorter and more convenient, or present the specific clinical characteristics of psychological pain. In addition, thematic apperception test, visual analogue scale, pictorial representation of illness and self measure and structured interview make up for the limitations of self-report. In the future, the assessment can be further combined with neurobiology, mobile internet and other means, while considering the application in diverse environments such as special populations and cross-cultural groups.