When the spirit hurts: an approach to the suffering patient.

Abstract

Suffering, or spiritual pain, receives little attention in medical education, research, or practice. 1 Institutional standards for pain management often address only physical pain,2 the inadequate treatment of which is widespread and well documented. 3-5 However, suffering is more individualized, more elusive than pain. 6,7 Suffering, like physical pain, may go unrecognized and undertreated even in the best settings 1,3,8 and amidst very compassionate caregivers, simply because of inadequate diagnostic skills and knowledge about the nature of suffering. 7 While we may not be able to alleviate suffering in the same manner or to the same degree as we can physical pain, the simple recognition of suffering in the patient is the first step in a truly holistic approach, allowing the patient to feel the therapeutic power of compassion and begin healing.