Pain

Pain and tiredness are the most common symptoms of all. If you were to ask all adults in the population, one third would complain about pain, while approximately 4% would say that they are suffering serious pain that has lasted for more than a week.

If you are suffering from depression, you often have pain. Your pain can intermittently be the most prominent symptom of your depression.

Patients with chronic pain do unfortunately have an increased risk of suffering from depression, regardless of what the reasons for the pain are. Approximately half of all pain patients have depressive symptoms and approximately one third are suffering from depression, which needs to be treated.

Chronic pain increases the risk of developing depression significantly. But studies have also shown that you have an increased risk of getting a chronic pain condition later on in life if you have had a depression. This is unfortunately true but you can luckily do something about it yourself.

Depression and a chronic pain condition have a number of common features. Antidepressants, which have a good effect on depression in patients with chronic pain also have an effect on certain forms of pain - even if you are not depressed.