Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

pain, pain perception, and behavior  

Definition

  • Pain is a complex biopsychosocial and culturally influenced phenomenon and has been a focus of medicine since ancient times. Although experienced by the sufferer as a noxious sensation, pain sometimes performs a useful function by alerting the individual to a bodily threat that requires immediate action (taking your hand off a hot stove or avoiding putting weight on a broken bone) or that acts as a signal for a more complex threat (e.g., pain may be a symptom of cancer). [Source: Encyclopedia of Lifestyle Medicine & Health; Pain, Pain Perception, and Behavior]

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/pain,_pain_perception,_and_behavior

Download this concept: