Why Are Fibromyalgia Patients More Likely To Be Depressed?

If you have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or are experiencing body pain and severe feelings of depression and anxiety at the same time, it may not be a coincidence as research shows that people that are suffering from fibromyalgia are more up to 3 times more likely to be depressed, specially at the time of diagnosis.

It’s so common that around 20% of fibromyalgia patients are diagnosed with chronic major depressive disorder, but why? Simply because the relationship between the two is bidirectional- pain and stress caused by fibromyalgia can heighten depression, and depression can make your suffering from this chronic illness more intense.

Fibromyalgia and Depression Have Overlapping Symptoms

Both the chronic disorders share major symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia and brain fog as well as other cognitive difficulties, these interchangeable symptoms are overwhelming for a person and can worsen both depression and fibromyalgia.

Interconnected Factors Between Fibromyalgia and Depression

Individuals with fibromyalgia are likely to experience depression as there are several overlapping factors such as:

• Stress and Anxiety
  Living with chronic pain isn’t easy, it can lead to consistent feelings of anxiety that are hard to fight off and eventually make you isolate yourself from the rest of the world and opt out of activities that you would have otherwise enjoyed.
  Fibromyalgia pain is hard to deal with and can make you feel defeated and frustrated, these can contribute to the overall development of depression.
• Chronic Fatigue
  One of the main characteristics of fibromyalgia is widespread pain and exhaustion, these things can affect the sufferer’s quality of life.
  They may feel constantly just managing their condition instead of enjoying daily life and following a normal routine may be difficult for them. These things can lead to disrupted mental health and overtime, become depression.
• Neurochemical Factors
  Our brains are constantly in a balancing act involving neurochemicals to function, however fibromyalgia and depression both use the same chemicals in the neurotransmitter system, which are those related to serotonin and dopamine.
  These both are affected severely when an individual is experiencing fibromyalgia since these neurochemicals impact our pain perception and mood regulation. Therefore, the mechanisms that affect fibromyalgia can cause depression in individuals.
• Bidirectional Relationship
  Fibromyalgia and depression influence each other greatly, the existence of one can exacerbate the other.
  A patient of fibromyalgia is at risk of developing depression due to the overlapping symptoms and similar neurochemicals being affected in both depression and fibromyalgia, however, if someone is already a sufferer of depression, their feelings of pain caused by fibromyalgia might be amplified.

Takeaway

The overlap of these two conditions may be hard to avoid and harder to manage, similar symptoms of chronic fatigue, reduced activity levels and the hidden neurochemical factors can all be very stressful for one to deal with.

Therefore, treatment that addresses the physical pain of fibromyalgia as well as the mental stress of fibromyalgia or existing depression needs to also be part of the process.

Having a multifaceted treatment plan is essential so that the patient can lead a normal life and overcome these obstacles. It’s important to reach out for help as soon as possible. Here at our facility – Rheumatology Care of North Houston, Dr. Zohair Abbas and his staff will help you overcome your condition with the right treatment plan, so schedule your appointment now by calling (832) 532-9779.