SF | PSYCHIATRY
May 2021 | Vol. 21 No. 5 www.medicalacademic.co.za
This article was independently sourced by Specialist Forum.
Pain-induced DEPRESSION DEPRESSION
P
atients suffering from chronic paininduced depression exhibit a poorer prognosis than those with chronic pain only. Chronic pain and depression are closely correlated in terms of occurrence and development and are able to mutually promote their own severity progress.
Neuroplasticity changes In recent years, studies have revealed considerable overlaps between pain- and depression-induced neuroplasticity and neurobiological mechanism changes. Such overlaps are vital to facilitating the occurrence and development of chronic pain-induced depression. Neuroplasticity crucially affects the occurrence and development of chronic pain and depression and may involve the same brain structures, neurotransmitters, and signalling pathways. Through exploring the common neuroplasticity changes of these two disorders,
About 20% of people are affected by pain and depression. Depression is one of the leading contributors to the global disease burden. Studies show that chronic pain, as a stress state, often induce depression, and that up to 85% of patients with chronic pain are affected by severe depression. new targeted therapeutic drugs should be able to be developed or these disorders’ common
targets should be able to be identified for precise treatment of chronic pain-induced
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