Chronic pain can increase risk of depression, warns study

Health risks of chronic pain: It can ruin your sleep, make even the simplest tasks feel exhausting, and slowly hamper your quality of life (Images: Canva)

Aching joints. Trembling hands. Migraines. That bone-deep fatigue that refuses to go away. For some, these aren't just symptoms of a long, exhausting day, they’re the body’s quiet cries for help. Chronic pain, often invisible to others, can creep into your life slowly and steadily, dulling your body and  also your spirit. Over time, it becomes more than physical discomfort. It begins to weigh on your mood, your energy, and your sense of self.

When pain stays longer than three months, it becomes chronic pain. According to recent studies conducted by the Yale University, this isn't just a symptom, it's a condition of its own, affecting nearly 30 percent of people worldwide. The damage isn’t limited to your body.

According to the study, chronic pain can ruin your sleep, make even the simplest tasks feel exhausting, and slowly hamper your quality of life. Moreover, it can begin to drag your mental health down with it. Researchers suggest that chronic pain interacts with genetics, social stress, and environmental factors that can all lead to depression.

Also read | Chronic pain: Add healthy diet, adequate sleep, daily exercises to your daily routine for quick relief

The study, published in the Science Advances Journal, suggests that the pain-depression link goes deeper than previously believed, it may actually be biological. The research analysed massive datasets from biobanks and found that people who live with multisite chronic pain (pain in multiple parts of the body) are nearly four times more likely to experience depression.

The researchers used a method called Mendelian randomisation, which helps determine if a link is just a correlation or actually a cause. Their findings point to shared genetic traits and inflammatory markers, like C-reactive protein (CRP), that may explain why chronic pain often leads to depression. Additionally, certain types of pain, like facial pain, stomach pain, and headaches, appear to be even more strongly tied to depression risk.

Also read | Do's and don'ts if you have chronic pain

5 things you should know about chronic pain and depression:

• The more areas you feel pain, the higher your risk for depression: Multisite pain, when discomfort spreads across multiple body regions, is especially linked to emotional distress.
• Inflammation: Higher levels of CRP, an inflammation marker, may help explain how physical pain impacts mental health.
• Your genes might be part of the story: Inherited traits could make some people more vulnerable to both pain and depression.
• Causation is possible: Sophisticated tools like Mendelian randomisation show the relationship between pain and depression could be causal, not just coincidental.
• Treating one without the other: A mind-body approach that treats both pain and emotional health is crucial for full recovery.