We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. (Lewis CS, The problem of pain. New York, 1944, Macmillan).

Pain, if not the worst, is one of the worst symptoms that a patient experiences and has a detrimental effect on the patients’ quality of life. Pain has a significant burden on patients; and carers’ mental health, as it often leads to depression and anxiety disorders. Pain catastrophizing and pain-related anxiety and fear are related to poor adjustment to pain and that higher self-efficacy and adaptive pain coping are related to improved adjustment to pain. Therefore, pain has a dynamic two-way relationship with mental health.

The objective of this special issue is to highlight and critically evaluate current research on psychological aspects of chronic pain.

This special issue will also emphasize the epidemiology of mental health disorders that occur secondary to pain, the potential underlying mechanisms and links, the risk factors, the clinical management (pharmacological and psychological) of anxiety, and depression in chronic pain. Studies on health-related quality of life in patients with chronic pain are welcome.

This special issue will include original research articles, systematic reviews and clinical studies on pain in peripheral neuropathies.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Anxiety in chronic pain
• Depression in chronic pain
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder in chronic pain
• The role of psychological mechanisms on pain perception
• The role of psychotherapeutic interventions in chronic pain
• The effect of pain in in the overall health-related quality of life
• Chronic pain’s burden on carers’ psychology
• How noninterventional techniques could help or substitute drug therapy when targeting the psychological aspects of chronic pain