Chronic pain and PTSD: the Perpetual Avoidance Model and its treatment implications.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain are frequently seen in the aftermath of a traumatic experience. Torture survivors have an increased risk to suffer from these two disorders. Although many studies report high comorbidity,there is still insufficient knowledge on the mechanisms of the development and maintenance of PTSD and chronic pain. After providing an overview of the current literature concerning the comorbidity of these two disorders, we will present the "Perpetual Avoidance Model" (PAM). This model provides an explanation of the reciprocal maintenance of both disorders and offers treatment implications.