Hi Rebecca,

Yes physical pain can definitely make you feel depressed. For me it makes me feel very anxious. I have a chronic pain condition that comes and goes – usually the pain isn’t super severe but it’s severe enough to upset me. The only medication I can take for nerve pain are anti-depressants as they can work to reduce the pain signals the nerves are churning out. For me, there is a significant correlation with my mood/ anxiety on my pain. When I’m anxious, stressed or upset the pain amplifies by hundreds. It’s also worth remembering that this is not only psychological but physiological too. Stress, and only emotions can produce stress chemicals which actually amplify the severity we feel pain.

There is an amazing book I would really recommend for you (and others dealing with chronic pain). It talks lots about the two elements of pain (primary and secondary). Primary is the raw sensation of pain, secondary is our reaction and emotions related to the pain e.g. thoughts like “when will this stop?” “am I going to be in pain for ever?” “I can’t cope with this” etc. It’s much much easier said than done, but the book explores how you can tease apart the primary pain from the secondary and ease your suffering. I’m still working on this everyday, and was very sceptical at first, but honestly you can gain a lot of control over your pain with your mind.

In terms of meds – the antidepressants I take do make me incredibly sleepy and drowsy which is unpleasant. I also don’t find they help significantly, although with nerve pain they have to work over many weeks and months to diminish the pain.

Keep strong, and let me know if you want to talk anytime.

The book can be bought on Amazon – it’s called “Mindfulness for Health: A practical guide to relieving pain, reducing stress and restoring wellbeing” by Vidyamala Burch”. If you don’t want to buy the book they have lots of helpful articles on their website which can give you a taste. They also have some of the free meditations you can try:

http://franticworld.com/resources/