In their paper An Evolutionary Stress-Response Hypothesis for Chronic Widespread Pain (Fibromyalgia Syndrome), Lyon, Cohen, and Quintner state that

“all states of affairs salient to the organism are perceived in one of three ways: as acceptable or adequate for continued homeostasis (OK); as challenging or threatening to homeostasis (OK-); or as facilitating enhanced functioning (OK+).”

I’ve created this scale representing it as a continuum:

One such state of affairs would be a circumstance under which the question, “how dangerous is this, really?” is being considered. An answer of perceived OK- , a challenge or threat to homeostasis, would correspond with a response or output of pain along with protective behavior and narratives. The goals of our interactions are always going to be a progression up the scale with narrative and behavioral markers that correspond to the values our patients have identified as relevant.