PTSD/C-PTSD Poll results for: For those of you suffering with PTSD/C-PTSD, do you also suffer with chronic pain?

PTSD/C-PTSD Poll/Question result for: For those of you suffering with PTSD/C-PTSD, do you also suffer with chronic pain?

The results are now in for our latest PTSD/C-PTSD Poll/question: For those of you suffering with PTSD/C-PTSD, do you also suffer with chronic pain?

Thanks to everyone who took part in our latest poll and your support and responses were greatly appreciated

The results are as follows:

81.8% of those of you who took part said Yes you also suffer with chronic pain in addition to suffering with PTSD/CPTSD

12.2% of those of you who took part said No, you do not suffer with chronic pain in addition to your PTSD/CPTSD

Studies have shown that chronic pain might not only be caused by physical injury but also by stress and emotional issues. In particular, people who have experienced trauma and suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are often at a higher risk to develop chronic pain. Chronic pain can be a debilitating condition and when combined with having PTSD/CPTSD, living life can prove very difficult for Trauma Survivors.

Chronic pain can be caused by many factors. Some people get chronic pain from normal wear and tear of the body or from aging. Others have chronic pain from various types of cancer, or other chronic medical illnesses. In some cases, the chronic pain may be from an injury that happened during an accident or an assault. Some chronic pain has no explanation but it doesnt make any less real, an individuals experience of pain. Chronic pain could arise from disease, injuries and sometimes chronic pain also stems from having endured traumatic experiences, such as a physical or sexual assault, a motor vehicle accident, combat trauma or some ither type of traumatic event. When someone has experienced Trauma, they are at a much higher risk of also experiencing both chronic pain and PTSD/CPTSD.

Studies and research has shown, that in individuals suffering with PTSD/CPTSD, there is often a high incidence of them also suffering with Chronic pain. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has largely been recognised as having severe effects on someones mental health but there is a growing body of research which shows that PTSD/CPTSD is increasingly being recognised for its effect on physical wellness of individuals in addition to the impact on mental health. Suffering with the debilitating effects of Chronic pain and the disability that often comes with it, can have a profound effect on someones mental health, affecting their mood, day to day functioning, their belief systems and cognitions, values, emotions and feelings of self confidence and self worth. Numerous studies have indicated that many people who experience chronic pain are also more prone to be suffering with depression. In fact, depression is the most common psychiatric diagnosis in individuals with chronic pain. The experience of progressive, consistent chronic pain and disability also translates for many individuals into having thoughts of suicide as a means of ending their pain and frustration

Many who suffer with PTSD (veterans in particular) have higher lifetime prevalence of circulatory, digestive, musculoskeletal, nervous system, respiratory and infectious disease. There is also an increased co-occurrence of chronic pain in those who suffer with PTSD. One symptom of PTSD is that the person becomes emotionally or physically upset when reminded of the traumatic event. For people with chronic pain, the pain may actually serve as a reminder of the traumatic event, which will tend to exacerbate the PTSD. Pain experienced by veterans is often documented as being significantly worse than those who have not engaged in military combat, this being due to being exposed to injury and psychological stress. The incidence of chronic pain in women veterans are even higher than their male counterparts. Veterans with chronic pain often report that pain interferes with their ability to engage in occupational, social, and recreational activities. This leads to increased isolation, negative mood, and physical deconditioning, which actually exacerbates the experience of pain.

In 1979, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) redefined pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential damage or described in terms of such damage. This definition allows for the fact that pain, also involves thoughts and feelings. Pain is real regardless of whether the biological causes are known, and it is ultimately a subjective experience.

People with chronic pain and PTSD/CPTSD report more severe pain and poorer quality of life than those with chronic pain alone. It is important that its recognised, that certain types of chronic pain are more common in individuals who have experienced specific traumas. Adult Survivors of physical, psychological, or sexual abuse are much more prone and at risk for developing certain types of chronic pain later in their lives. The most common forms of chronic pain for Trauma Survivors who have experienced physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, include: pain in the pelvis, lower back, face, and bladder; fibromyalgia; interstitial cystitis; and nonremitting whiplash syndromes.

Those suffering with PTSD/CPTSD often disclose greater pain severity and pain interference, have more symptoms of depression, and are more likely to be suffering with substance misuse. Those suffering with PTSD/CPTSD often endure symptoms which interfere in their ability to function day to day. The impact of PTSD/CPTSD often results in individuals feeling isolated and alone with what they are experiencing, and results in the individual disonnecting from themselves and from those around them. Those suffering from PTSD/CPTSD as well as chronic pain suffer immensely, as they are betrayed not just by their minds but also by their bodies.

So why is there such a high correlation of PTSD/CPTSD sufferers also suffering with chronic pain? Many people are already familiar with the fact that emotional stress can lead to stomachaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and headaches, but might not know that it can also cause other physical complaints and even chronic pain. One logical reason for this: studies have found that the more anxious and stressed people are, the more tense and constricted their muscles are, over time causing the muscles to become fatigued and inefficient

During a traumatic event, the nervous system switches into survival mode (the sympathetic nervous system) and sometimes has difficulty reverting back into its normal, relaxed mode again (the parasympathetic nervous system). If the nervous system stays in survival mode, stress hormones such as cortisol are constantly released, causing an increase in blood pressure and blood sugar, which can in turn reduce the immune system's ability to heal. Physical symptoms start to manifest when the body is in constant distress.

Pain can actually be a good thing, because pain functions to alert a person that there is still emotional work to be done, and it can also be a sign of unresolved trauma in the nervous system. Even if one has grieved and processed the emotional impact of a trauma, the nervous system might still unwittingly be in survival mode.

One symptom of PTSD./CPTSD is that the person becomes emotionally or physically upset when reminded of the traumatic event. Emotional distress can take its toll physically on the body, and being in a constant state of hyperarousal, a symptom of PTSD/CPTSD can lead to individuals suffering chronic pain. For people with chronic pain, the pain may actually serve as a reminder of the traumatic event, which will tend to exacerbate the PTSD/CPTSD. For those who have suffered traumatic experiences suffering with PTSD/CPTSD, the pain itself can act as a reminder of their trauma experiences, and can cause PTSD/CPTSD symptoms to worsen eg flashbacks, panic attacks, anxiety and depression. Additionally, psychological vulnerability such as lack of control is common to both disorders. When a person is exposed to a traumatic event, one of the primary risk factors to developing PTSD/CPTSD is the extent to which the events and ones reactions to them are unfolding in a very unpredictable and therefore uncontrollable way. Similarly, patients with chronic pain often feel helpless in coping with the perceived unpredictability of the physical sensations.

Some say that patients with PTSD and chronic pain share the common thread of anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety sensitivity refers to the fear of arousal-related sensations because of beliefs that these sensations have harmful consequences. A person with high anxiety sensitivity then becomes fearful in response to physical sensations such as pain, thinking that these symptoms are signaling that something is terribly wrong. In the same vain, a person with high anxiety sensitivity will be at risk for developing PTSD because the fear of the trauma itself is amplified by a fearful response to a normal anxiety response to the trauma. It is normal to have a strong reaction to trauma, but most sufferers actually tend to be fearful of their own response.

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