Chronic pain and depression can end up going hand-in-hand together, but why are these two things so interwoven with each other? The answer is stress.
When you are in pain, the areas of your brain that respond to stress fire up. This puts your body into a fight-or-flight mode by flooding your system with adrenaline. Typically, those stress signals turn off once the pain goes away and your body returns to a relaxed state.
With chronic pain, however, those fight-or-flight signals never turn off. That means your nervous system remains in a constant state of high alert. This never-ending amount of stress eventually begins to wear the body down, which leaves you more vulnerable to the physical realities that cause clinical depression, such as your body not being about to produce enough neurotransmitters or stress hormones.
As your chronic pain develops into depression, it can end up increasing your pain. This increase in pain can then deepen your depression, creating a downward spiral. That is why it is essential to find helpful pain management in St. Augustine, FL.
A pain management doctor or other professional is able to help you find healthy ways to deal with your chronic pain and the stress it causes so you can begin to battle against your depression. Advancements in medical technology have led to many different treatment options that can truly make a difference in your life.
