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Chronic Pain and Psychiatric Conditions
Keira J A Johnston1,2,3, Laura M Huckins1,2,4,5,3
1Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Complex Psychiatry
|April 10, 2023
Summary
Chronic pain frequently co-occurs with psychiatric conditions beyond depression, including ADHD and BPD. Understanding these links, especially genetic overlaps, can improve treatments for both chronic pain and mental health disorders.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Pain Medicine
- Genetics
Background:
- Chronic pain is a prevalent condition with significant public health and socioeconomic impact.
- Comorbidity between chronic pain and psychiatric disorders is common, complicating treatment outcomes for both.
- Major depressive disorder has been the most studied psychiatric comorbidity, overshadowing other conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relationships between various DSM-5 psychiatric diagnoses and chronic pain.
- To focus on less-studied comorbidities like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
- To investigate potential mechanisms underlying these comorbidities and their genetic overlap.
Main Methods:
- Review of relationships between DSM-5 psychiatric diagnoses and chronic pain.
- Focus on PTSD, ADHD, and BPD in conjunction with chronic pain.
- Application of linkage disequilibrium score regression analyses to assess genetic overlap.
Main Results:
- Nearly all DSM-5 psychiatric conditions are linked to increased chronic pain rates.
- Significant genetic correlations were found between chronic pain and ADHD.
- Significant genetic correlations were found between chronic pain and BPD.
- Psychiatric conditions other than major depression are under-researched in relation to chronic pain.
Conclusions:
- Understanding the links between chronic pain and psychiatric conditions like ADHD, BPD, and PTSD is crucial.
- This understanding can enhance the treatment of both psychiatric disorders and chronic pain.
- Further research into these under-explored comorbidities can lead to novel therapeutic strategies.
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