Chronic pain as an emergent property of a complex system and the potential roles of psychedelic therapies.

Chronic pain can be understood as an emergent property of a complex biopsychosocial system, where physiology, neuroscience, psychology, learning, and epigenetics interact with changing socioenvironmental conditions. This complexity may explain why current treatments often fail. Therapies that are both disruptive and adaptive at higher system levels, such as psychedelic-assisted therapies and mindfulness-based approaches, may offer benefits. Both have transdiagnostic value by disrupting rigid cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns and promoting neuroplasticity. Psychedelic therapies may hold unique promise for managing chronic pain.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Despite research advances and urgent calls by national and global health organizations, clinical outcomes for millions of people suffering with chronic pain remain poor. We suggest bringing the lens of complexity science to this problem, conceptualizing chronic pain as an emergent property of a complex biopsychosocial system. We frame pain-related physiology, neuroscience, developmental psychology, learning, and epigenetics as components and mini-systems that interact together and with changing socioenvironmental conditions, as an overarching complex system that gives rise to the emergent phenomenon of chronic pain. We postulate that the behavior of complex systems may help to explain persistence of chronic pain despite current treatments. From this perspective, chronic pain may benefit from therapies that can be both disruptive and adaptive at higher orders within the complex system. We explore psychedelic-assisted therapies and how these may overlap with and complement mindfulness-based approaches to this end. Both mindfulness and psychedelic therapies have been shown to have transdiagnostic value, due in part to disruptive effects on rigid cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns as well their ability to promote neuroplasticity. Psychedelic therapies may hold unique promise for the management of chronic pain.