Depression: Stigma & Pain

An article in the journal of Behaviour Research and Therapy reports that people suffering from depression face not only physical symptoms but also stigmatization. Is their pain perception affected as well? Two studies were utilized, the first examining self-reports of depressed people in pain and how they were impacted by being stigmatized, and the second incorporating thermal stimuli.

The study concluded, “stigmatized experience affected depressed patients’ pain catastrophizing and evoked pain perception. These findings provide new experimental evidence that stigmatization affects the physical perception of depressed patients. Furthermore, they suggest that a focus on minimizing stigmatization may help patients maintain healthier physical and psychological states and improve clinical interventions for depression.”

 

Access the journal article.

Read the press release.

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• pain management