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Updated: May 26, 2026
08:33
A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial of Cranial Electrical Stimulation for Fibromyalgia Pain and Physical Function, Using Brain Imaging Biomarkers
Published on: January 5, 2024
Fibromyalgia and depression
Richard H Gracely1, Marta Ceko, M Catherine Bushnell
1Center for Neurosensory Disorders, University of North Carolina, CBNo.7280, 3330 Thurston Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Pain Research and Treatment
|December 23, 2011
Summary
Fibromyalgia and depression may stem from the same affective spectrum disorder, sharing genetic and environmental factors. While distinct, fibromyalgia
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Genetics
Background:
- Fibromyalgia and depression share overlapping pathophysiology and treatments targeting serotoninergic and noradrenergic systems.
- Both conditions are influenced by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review evidence on genetic and environmental factors contributing to fibromyalgia and depression.
- To examine the role of depression in fibromyalgia and its potential classification within affective spectrum or functional pain disorders.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of genetic and environmental factors.
- Analysis of laboratory findings on depression in fibromyalgia.
- Comparative analysis of fibromyalgia and depression features.
Main Results:
- Fibromyalgia and depression share predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors.
- Fibromyalgia exhibits unique somatic comorbidities and widespread pain, distinguishing it from typical depression.
- Fibromyalgia may precipitate reactive depression more readily than other chronic pain conditions.
Conclusions:
- Fibromyalgia and depression may be viewed as related manifestations of affective spectrum disorder.
- Fibromyalgia's distinct somatic features suggest grouping with functional pain disorders.
- Psychologically distressed subgroups of fibromyalgia may align more with affective spectrum disorders.
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