THE COGNITIVEeBEHAVIORAL MODEL FOR PAINOur interpretations (automatic thoughts) and be- haviors when faced with a pain sensation usually manifest in the difference between disease, nocicep- tion, and impairment on one hand, and illness, pain, and disabilityontheotherhand. Diseaseisdefinedas an ‘‘objective biological event’’ that involves disrup- tion of specific body structures or organ systems, caused by pathological, anatomical, or physiological changes.20 The medical dictionary defines impair- ment as an ‘‘objective loss of function’’ proportionate to the magnitude of the biological event and nocicep- tion astheperceptionof apainful stimulus, whichen- tails stimulation of nerves that convey information about tissue damage to the brain.In contrast, illness is defined as a ‘‘subjective experience or self-attribution’’ that a disease is pre- sent;21 the physical discomfort, emotional distress, behavioral limitations, and psychosocial disruption of the illness do not directly correlate with disease and impairment. Illness is, thus, how the sick person and the social network—and perhaps the society— perceive, live with, and respond to physical symp- toms. Disability is the effect of this subjective experience. For example, two people with the same disease or impairment can have different levels of disability based on how they perceive their illness, what they perceive they can or cannot do, and what they actually do or avoid doing.