How Serious is it?
In most cases, chronic pain affects all aspects of live. Pain has unwanted consequences of both physical, psychological and social nature. The quality of life – with those with chronic pain – is among the worst, even in comparison with those with life-threatening conditions.
It is a huge problem for many people with chronic pain that the doctors cannot prove a cause for the pain and that the pain cannot be removed. In a desperate attempt to find out what is wrong, patients seek out several different doctors – most often without luck. It can be difficult to accept that you can be in pain every single day without anyone being able to treat it effectively. ‘Doctors today can do this and that’. When they can give people a new heart, they should be able to find the cause for the pain and make it stop. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
The most important psychological consequences of pain are depression and anxiety. In both cases, cause and effect are reciprocal – the pain can cause depression or anxiety and reversely anxiety and depression can enhance the experience of pain. Up to half of all patients with chronic pain have symptoms that indicate depression, for example sleep disturbances, lack of appetite and negativity. Many people with chronic pain have made the observation themselves that their pain is worsened by hardship and bad mood.
The experience of pain is closely connected to the experienced threat the pain poses. Pain is for example enhanced in periods where you wait on results from examinations. In that way, uncertainty surrounding the future has an enhancing effect on the experience of pain.
Naturally, social conditions also plays a part in how heavy a problem with pain weighs. The financially well-disposed person with supporting family and friends is better equipped to deal with pain than the financially ill-disposed person who is alone with his or her problems.
It can be hard or impossible to have a job when you are in chronic pain. For many people losing your job after a longer period of sick leave marks the start of a year-long nightmare with gradual social downturn. If you have the possibility of continuing work, possibly part time, it is best to try and keep it. For those who cannot do their job, there is a possibility of obtaining help from the social authorities. There is here a possibility of rehabilitation or early retirement benefits.