Are you aware of the connection between physical pain and depression? It’s important to understand the link, and how it affects your body and mind. This understanding can help you with treatment and therapy.
Learn more about this depression and pain dilemma:
- Understand the depression and physical pain cycle. Health experts share that depression and pain appear to share a cycle. This cycle makes it difficult to see where one issue starts and ends. There is overlap between depression and pain, so it’s hard to tell them apart.
- As your depression gets worse or better, your physical pain responds and may get worse or better in sync. The two are interlinked in a complex way that makes it harder to treat.
- Pain can also make depression more difficult. If you’re not able to work or do the activities you enjoy because of physical pain, you suffer and feel isolated. This can increase depression and feelings of worthlessness.
- Consider inflammation. Recent research points to the role of inflammation in both depression and pain. More inflammation is likely to make depression worse. Likewise, if you have high levels of inflammation in your body, you’re more likely to have higher levels of pain.
Fighting Back Against Depression and Pain
If you’re battling depression and pain, using these strategies may alleviate your symptoms:
- Seek help for your depression. You may benefit from therapy or medications specifically designed to manage depression.
- Get help for your physical pain. You may have to make multiple doctors’ appointments to get to the root cause of the pain. But you want to ensure that whatever is causing your physical pain is also being treated in the best ways you have available. Physical therapists help to look at the impact of your pain on how it affects the most important aspect to you, your life.
- Stay active. It’s easy to allow depression and pain to take over your world and hide. However, it’s crucial that you exercise and stay involved.
- Lean on your support network. Whether it’s your friends, family, or coworkers, you need people in your life who understand you and can help you during a time of need.
- Find something that brings you joy on a daily basis. This can range from cooking your favorite meals to dancing at a popular club. You can also find joy in smaller activities such as talking to a friend, reading a book, or writing down your thoughts.
- The key is to focus on positive activities that uplift you and help you forget the pain.
- Learn to speak positively to yourself. Positive self-talk has been shown to reduce both depression and pain.
- Many athletes can talk through the pain to finish a competition. Many celebrities use positive self-talk to get out of depression. You, too, can use this technique to help manage your pain and depression.
- It’s important to focus on positive aspects of your life and personality, so you don’t feel guilt or shame. Avoid berating yourself over mistakes. Shift your focus away from negative ideas, habits, or suggestions.
- The more you practice positive self-talk, the better you get at it, and the greater influence you’ll have on your results.
Depression and physical pain are linked together.It’s not easy to see where one starts and the other ends. Nevertheless, you can take action to alleviate both pain and depression. Try these techniques to make a positive difference in your life.
