“Early Life Adversity” There is no doubt that too often psychological evaluations are incomplete, inaccurate and disappointing. The focus is almost always upon the individual following an injury with little reference to early life. There is also the erroneous belief that if there has been past early life trauma that all current problems are …
“The Acute/Chronic Differences” We use the experience of pain to signal that a problem exists and must be addressed. There are those who are unable to experience pain (Eg. congenital analgesia). It is a rare disorder, although there is a village in Sweden with a high incidence of the condition. For the rest of us, …
“Antidepressant Medication” The occurrence of a work-related injury can result in pain, financial devastation and destruction of family. To relegate this upheaval to a dosage of the proper medication suggests that the patient cannot learn to solve the problems which have arisen. I ask the patient “was your father ever depressed?” The patient replies “Never! …
The Wise and Skillful: He has spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease but tells everyone she has `herniated discs’ Why? “We retain data in areas in which we have strong interest and/or strong responsibility. We may know what constitutes a concerning temperature in a child without knowing the mechanism for fever. We may know that …
“What’s Happened?” Let’s focus upon the fifth of five factors that slow the mobilization process: 1. The preventability of the injury – “should not have happened” 2. The perception that care was not timely and/or competent – “their doctors” 3. The belief that employer and coworkers are indifferent – “never hear from them” 4. Being …
Does chronic pain cause the depression or does depression cause the pain? Current evidence indicates that both are occurring …
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Psychological Status: An individual has a health crisis; this may be an illness or injury. In the Emergency Department, …
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There are four reasons for making a psychological referral: 1. You arequest a second opinion because you have reason to believe …
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