It isn't surprising that depression is a factor in many. It is common, said Dr. Charles White, a Physiatrist with a practice in Peoria, Arizona, to think of pain in connection with tissue damage. The brain's pain center registers pain signals just as real as if the limb were still present, according to Dr. White. Fibromyalgia or tension myalgia is a disease of pain without any evidence of tissue damage. The average person seeking diagnosis and treatment for fibromyalgia or tension myalgia sees 8 different physicians, reported Dr. Dorothy Johnson at the Phoenix-based seminar mentioned in the opening paragraph.
Depression Is Part Of It.
Depression accompanies chronic pain in some people, especially as the pain becomes more debilitating. I'll relate a brief part of my personal experience, for it illustrates the kind of mental management that treating physicians advise. I had an ongoing psychological battle for years, for depression would settle over me unexpectedly. I would feel worthless, gloomy, unhappy. And, of course, no doctor in my early years of disability could give me a complete diagnosis of the ailment, which added to my depressions.