We see how closely linked physical pain and psychological pain are with perspectives from two experts on the topic. One, Robert Malenka, MD, PhD, is the author of a 2014 study from Stanford University connecting chronic pain to lack of motivation in mice. The other, mental health journalist and author Kathleen Smith, PhD, wrote a review establishing the link between chronic pain and depression.
Those with chronic pain can best recover when they choose multimodal treatment programs that incorporate or encourage mental health therapies for joint pain relief in Orlando.
Connection Between Lack of Motivation and Chronic Pain
Chronic pain may lead to lower levels of motivation, an issue that can become exacerbated because patients may fail to set up non-surgical joint pain treatments in their local area.
In Dr. Malenka’s study, the researchers determined that when mice experienced chronic pain, a key area in their brains related to motivation would gradually change. Malenka is notable as the lead researcher because he has been studying the nucleus accumbens (a reward-seeking center of the brain that helps establish goals and follow-through to achieve them) for over 20 years. Dr. Malenka discovered that those suffering from persistent pain cause alterations with the brain in the cells of the nucleus accumbens.
Within just one week following the inception of chronic pain, the mice started to gradually show less motivation to work for food than was true of a control group that was not suffering from pain. What’s more, the issues with lack of willingness to perform work for food did not go away in the mice when they were treated with analgesics that substantially mitigate the discomfort.
Connection Between Depression and Chronic Pain
One way to explain the lack of motivation in the mice is that they were suffering from depression. Depression or anxiety are experienced by an incredible 3 to 5 out of every 10 who suffer from chronic pain, according to Kathleen Smith, PhD. Hence, pain treatments should include mental and emotional approaches.
The extent to which chronic pain is an emotional condition as well as a physical one goes beyond the simple example of motivation to general mood, tendency to isolate oneself, and mobility.
It is not always easy to determine whether depression might contribute to pain or whether pain might contribute to depression. However, it is compelling that anxiety or depression are three times as common among chronic pain patients – so consider that when you need joint pain relief in Orlando.
Non-Surgical Joint Pain Treatments in Orlando
Are you suffering from chronic joint pain? The psychological impact of your condition may be great, and your treatment team can refer you to specialists for your mental and emotional health. You also need a safe and effective way to address the pain itself, at its root – because resolving the pain can help relieve any psychological problems that are connected. The principles of viscosupplementation can help reintroduce the natural lubrication to your joints that they need in order to function properly and pain-free. At ViscoGen, JointVisc offers nonsurgical joint pain relief in Orlando.
