MRI Migraine Specialist Treatment Centers
The human body, apart from the mind, appears to have a small influence on depression and chronic resistant pain. This study investigated the relationship between depression and chronic pain. For this study 114 patients with chronic pain were compared with 53 patients with depression. Compared to patients with depression, patients with chronic pain showed the following characteristics:
- They were older and most already married
- Reported that they had difficulties sleeping and doing certain things because of pain
- Had difficulties moving
- Had less experience of depression. Their answers on the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire suggested that this could change.
- Patients with depression remembered more events 1 year before the depression while, patients with pain remembered more events that happened 9 and 10 years before their pain experiences.
The study concludes that patients with chronic pain cannot be seen as identical to patients with depression because they are different. These patient groups are different because they present different abnormal behaviours which are linked to their illnesses.
View the original chronic pain and depression paper at this link: Pain and depression
