It is a very common phenomenon that lifelong chronic diseases affect the quality of life of patients. When viewed from the perspective of chronic disease, most patients state that depression and anxiety accompany their illness for a significant part of their lives. Just as the pain felt by patients may trigger depression, the severity of pain may increase due to symptoms of depression.
The relationship between emotional state and physical diseases is obvious. Serotonin, known as the happiness hormone, cytokines that ensure the functioning of the immune system; It is linked to serotonin. This can be explained as the reason why the immune system weakens when depressed. Depression is more severe in patients with painful physical symptoms.
Epidemiological studies have shown that the lifetime prevalence of pain in society varies between 24-37%
. Increasing research in the literature examines the relationship between depression and pain symptoms. This relationship has been termed by some researchers as 'depression-pain syndrome'
or 'depression-pain duo' to draw attention to the fact that the two conditions often occur together, respond to similar treatments, exacerbate each other, and share similar biological pathways and chemical transmitters. It is called.
Although major depressive disorder symptoms are often characterized by cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems
, many of the patients, especially those who apply to primary care and non-psychiatric medical units, have pre-existing symptoms.
It has been reported that there are physical complaints in the background. However
However, it has been determined that patients with painful physical symptoms evaluate their health status as worse, and their depressive complaints are more frequent and severe. -
In a large-scale study covering five European countries, it has been determined that the general population While the rate of those experiencing chronic pain was 17%, it was found that this rate increased to 43% in those who met the criteria for depression.
In line with this information, people suffering from painful chronic diseases should be able to cope with depression and reduce their physical pain. It is just as important that they focus on relieving the disease.
Read: 0
