The importance of the psychiatrist as a member of the multidisciplinary pain team / A importância do médico psiquiatra como integrante da equipe multidisciplinar em dor

Abstract

Introducion: In Brazil, pain is a relatively new specialty, as the largest entity responsible for distributing content related to the area, the Brazilian Society for the Study of Pain (SBED) started its activities in 2006. However, psychiatrists can’t act as a pain specialist under the Specialist Qualification Registry (RQE), since psychiatry is not a specialty listed as pre-requirement for applying in the pain specialization selection process. Objective: This article aims to present skills of the psychiatrist in relation to the study of pain, so that effective inclusion in the multidisciplinary pain team as specialist and not just as a supporting mediator. Methods: For the construction of this original article, the bibliographic databases PubMed and Google Scholar were used, The MeSH terms used in this research were diverse, among the main ones: “pain residency”, “pain education”, “psychiatry pain residency” and “psychiatry pain education”. Results: Many of psychiatric disorders such as depression, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, among others, are commonly prevalent in patients with chronic pain. Mental health can be affected as a consequence of chronic pain, in the same way that a history of psychiatric disorder can be a risk factor for the development of chronic pain. Patients with pain and depressive disorder have a worse experience, because they report greater intensity, worse functioning and greater disability, compared to patients with pain without depression. Added to that, drugs considered pillars of pain treatment, such as antidepressants, gabapentinoids and antipsychotics, are frequently used by psychiatrists in their clinical practice. Conclusion: The relation between psychiatry and pain must be re-evaluated, this article aims to express the relevance of the psychiatrist in such a diverse and skillful team, in addition to unravel skills and competences for their incorporation in an important area of activity that tends to grow extraordinarily in Brazil and in the world.