Health & Medicine
Risk Factor: One Quarter of Teens With Mental Disorders Develop Chronic Pains
Matt Hoffman
First Posted: Oct 08, 2015 12:14 PM EDT
One quarter of young people have experienced both chronic pain and a mental disorder, and that knowledge coupled with new findings has led researchers to believe that mental disorders are often followed by the onset of pain.
The risk of developing chronic pains is very prevalent for teenagers that have also experienced some sort of mental disorder, according to the study.
In the new study from the Universities of Basel and Bochum, published in the Journal of Pain, an above-average rate of teenagers with depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders experience chronic headaches, and back and neck pain.
The team analyzed data from 6,483 American teens between the ages of 13 and 18.
The researchers found that 25.9 percent of the teenagers had suffered from chronic pains and at least one mental disorder at some point during their lifetime, according to a release. The team also identified a relationship between the disorders and pain they examined; pains including back, neck, and head pains, alongside disorders like affective, anxiety, behavioral, substance-induced, and eating disorders.
Connections between the disorders and the pain revealed that having a mental disorder often precedes having chronic pain. For example, many people experiencing depression often later developed chronic headaches, and similarly, those with anxiety often developed back and neck pains. Behavioral disorders, like attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders, often occurred prior to chronic headaches.
Given that 20 percent of youths and one in four adults - 61.5 million people - experience mental disorders every year in the United States, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, making this an issue that has detrimental effects on the quality of life of millions of Americans.
However, despite this study's findings, researchers were not able to find the specific reason that the two are connected, as the data stems from an interdisciplinary study.
"The temporal connections identified in the study can give only preliminary indications that mental disorders could be causal risk factors for chronic pain," Dr. Marion Tegethoff, of the University of Basel's Faculty of Psychology, said. "Future studies should focus on identifying the underlying biological and psychological mechanisms with a view to developing interdisciplinary approaches to prevention and treatment."
Previous studies have backed up this idea that mental disorders and chronic pain have been linked, and do frequently occur together. Both have an enormous effect on the lives of those who experience it, posing a huge problem for the healthcare system in the U.S.
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Tagschronic pain, Mental disorders, Mental disorders and chronic pain, Journal of Pain, University of Basel, University of Bochum, Depression, Anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Behavior disorders, Headaches, Back pain, Neck pain, Teenagers, Marion Tegethoff, united states ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Oct 08, 2015 12:14 PM EDT
One quarter of young people have experienced both chronic pain and a mental disorder, and that knowledge coupled with new findings has led researchers to believe that mental disorders are often followed by the onset of pain.
The risk of developing chronic pains is very prevalent for teenagers that have also experienced some sort of mental disorder, according to the study.
In the new study from the Universities of Basel and Bochum, published in the Journal of Pain, an above-average rate of teenagers with depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders experience chronic headaches, and back and neck pain.
The team analyzed data from 6,483 American teens between the ages of 13 and 18.
The researchers found that 25.9 percent of the teenagers had suffered from chronic pains and at least one mental disorder at some point during their lifetime, according to a release. The team also identified a relationship between the disorders and pain they examined; pains including back, neck, and head pains, alongside disorders like affective, anxiety, behavioral, substance-induced, and eating disorders.
Connections between the disorders and the pain revealed that having a mental disorder often precedes having chronic pain. For example, many people experiencing depression often later developed chronic headaches, and similarly, those with anxiety often developed back and neck pains. Behavioral disorders, like attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders, often occurred prior to chronic headaches.
Given that 20 percent of youths and one in four adults - 61.5 million people - experience mental disorders every year in the United States, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, making this an issue that has detrimental effects on the quality of life of millions of Americans.
However, despite this study's findings, researchers were not able to find the specific reason that the two are connected, as the data stems from an interdisciplinary study.
"The temporal connections identified in the study can give only preliminary indications that mental disorders could be causal risk factors for chronic pain," Dr. Marion Tegethoff, of the University of Basel's Faculty of Psychology, said. "Future studies should focus on identifying the underlying biological and psychological mechanisms with a view to developing interdisciplinary approaches to prevention and treatment."
Previous studies have backed up this idea that mental disorders and chronic pain have been linked, and do frequently occur together. Both have an enormous effect on the lives of those who experience it, posing a huge problem for the healthcare system in the U.S.
Related Articles
Job Stress: High Work Strain May Increase Leave From Mental Disorders
Chronic Pain: Online Alternative Helps Patients With Management, Emotions
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone