For many people who feel chronic pain, the suffering is continuous. Waking and sleeping, they are preoccupied with it. They want it removed by any means. Often, surgery is tried, sometimes more than once. Unfortunately, in many cases, the pain returns.
Medication provides some help, but often larger and larger doses are requried to maintain relief.
Chronic pain affects the marital relationship. Patients tend to have poor relationaships with their spouses and show poor sexual adjustment. One study found that 20 percent of spouses of pain patients reported significant symptoms of depression, and over 35 percent rated their marital adjustments as poor. Serious depression, known as major depression, is present in about 25 to 50 percent of all pain disorder patients, and most of the others show some depressive symptoms. Many of these aptients self-medicate using alchohol or illegal drugs in a desperate attempt at alleviating their pain.