Chronic pain is a frequent subject of litigation, both in personal injury and workers' compensation claims. Often, pain persists well beyond the expected course and appears to be in excess of physical pathology. In recent times, the term Chronic Pain Syndrome has been used to describe this phenomenon which is conceptually based on a behavioral, conditioning process. In essence, patients are said to be so in tune with their pain and with fear of re-injury that they aggravate their healing. For example, in anticipation of pain, they create a heightened state of physiological arousal which actually increases pain. Also, by being overly protective about their pain, they reduce mobility and become weak and deconditioned. Finally, by receiving a positive payoff for having pain, through an operant conditioning mechanism, they reinforce it. Positive payoffs can include attention, sympathy or nurturing from family; avoidance of unpleasant work situations; and financial compensation through damage awards or disability payments.

Because chronic pain is still poorly understood, the diagnosis of Chronic Pain Syndrome has become extremely popular. It allows for vague physical and emotional features of a patients presentation to be grouped under a convenient label. But, a syndrome is not a disease since it does not have unique pathophysiological elements. Rather, it is an observation of frequently occurring features and behavioral responses that are categorized under a common title. Unfortunately, this is often on the basis of relative and sometimes arbitrary features. With the medicalization seen in society today, defining something as a syndrome gives it legitimacy.