Existential pain—an entity, a provocation, or a challenge? Peter Strang, MD, PhD, Susan Strang, RN, PhD, Ragnar Hultborn, MD, PhD, Staffan Arnér, MD, PhD  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management  Volume 27, Issue 3, Pages 241-250 (March 2004) DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2003.07.003

Fig. 1 Percent of coded categories within each of Yalom's categories. Physicians considered the concepts of freedom and isolation less important than chaplains. Questions of meaning are considered important by all professions. The concept of death is considered more important by the physicians than by the chaplains. (P<0.001). Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2004 27, 241-250DOI: (10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2003.07.003)

Fig. 2 A histogram of frequencies of the 16 key words without attention paid to the context. Every key word is recorded only once/respondent. Chaplains (n=150), Palliative physicians (n=111), Pain specialists (n=90). Palliative care physicians focus on meaning, soul, and death issues, whereas pain specialists underscore the impact of psychological factors. Chaplains stress religious and guilt issues. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2004 27, 241-250DOI: (10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2003.07.003)