WHY WE SHOULD NOT IGNORE EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN PATIENTS
Emotional distress is really common among patients and instead of seeing it as something that needs to be avoided or ignored, we can look at distress as being present in a patient and see it as an opportunity to develop therapeutic alliance. We know, from research, that people who present with higher emotional distress tend to use more resources, and they have a greater healthcare seeking behavior. Sometimes just the connection with a good therapist is enough to reduce distress.
If you want to learn more about this topic, you can watch Alison Sim's lecture here:
Emotional distress can help predict the outcomes
Distress also predicts a lot of outcomes including pain, return to work etc. It’s a good indicator of poor prognosis. Michael Nicholas and team from the Sydney University studied how people present in the period following injury. In the period between 3 days and 15 days post injury, a risk prediction tool i.e. the Örebro was used to measure the distress in patients who were in a work place environment. They found that patients who were really distressed, as represented by the risk prediction tool, were less likely to return to work, they were much likely to have a rough time in the system and were more at risk of it turning into chronic pain.
How can we identify distress?
1. We can use risk prediction tools like the Örebro.
Using risk prediction tools can help predict who is at more risk of having a poor outcome leading to chronic pain.
2. Using our clinical skills
Sometimes while assessing patients we may sense some patients being disproportionately distressed and their distress does not match the way they present at a physical level.
To know more about the significance of emotional distress in patients, watch this clip taken from the lecture 'Cognitive behavioural approaches for Manual and exercise therapists’ by Alison Sim.
If you want to learn more about this topic, you can watch Alison Sim's lecture here:
Sources:
1. Lecture ‘ Cognitive behavioural approaches for Manual and exercise therapists’ by Alison Sim.
