Trastorno de síntomas somáticos: de la sospecha de simulación al tratamiento cognitivo-conductual

Abstract

Chronic pain is considered one that persists for more than three months. The treatment of pain is complicated even more when the health professional has a second thought about a possible malingering. This is a deliberate attempt to simulate a disease or disability, exaggerating the symptomatology, with the aim of obtaining a benefit, which is usually of an economic type. This paper depicts the case of a patient treated for chronic pain in a pain unit, which is suspected of obtaining an economic benefit due to permanent disability. After the evaluation, a malingering process is ruled out and a cognitive-behavioral treatment is started. We describe the evaluation that allows to rule out the suspicion of malingering, the cognitive-behavioral treatment with the choice of scientifically endorsed techniques for the treatment of chronic pain, and the results obtained.