What Are The Psychological Problems Associated With Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a condition that affects thousands of people. causing a series of pain to people who suffer from it.
However, although we usually focus on the physical symptoms, we must not also forget the psychological problems that this disease can trigger. Therefore, in this article we will review some of the most common psychological consequences of fibromyalgia according to the studies carried out on the matter.
In order to talk about the possible psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia, we first have to know more about the fibromyalgia disease itself, knowing what it consists of and what the most common symptoms are in those people who suffer from said ailment.
Fibromyalgia is a pathology whose main characteristic is the musculoskeletal pain of patients, which can be located in very diverse areas of the body, ranging from the chest and back to the arms or legs. Stimuli to the affected parts are perceived as much more painful than usual. Subjects may also feel extreme fatigue and not rest when they sleep.
The main problem with fibromyalgia is that the factors that cause it are not completely known. A few decades ago, it was considered that this disease was of a somatic type, but this conception changed, and in fact for the WHO it has been considered a physical disease since 1992. It is important to know this information before addressing the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia. .
The authorities consider that the origin of this pathology could be neurological, and It would be the neurochemical imbalances triggered in the central nervous system that would be causing the sensation of pain. which would result in hyperalgesia and allodynia.
Another problem with this condition is that there is no cure that works for all patients. Therefore, treatments are designed to reduce the symptoms, in order to reduce the sensation of pain, but also the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia.
Some studies suggest the possibility of a relationship between this disease and gluten intolerance in people who suffer from it. This connection arises when observing a certain improvement in patients after following a diet that does not contain cereals with this type of protein (mainly wheat, but also oats, barley or rye).
Main psychological problems linked to fibromyalgia
We have already delved into the implications of this disease and its main symptoms on a physical level, so we have the necessary basis to be able to now move on to explore the main psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia. And this disease not only leaves a mark on physical health, but also Suffering from chronic pain can also affect mental health.
The characteristics of fibromyalgia create a dent in the subject’s mood. It is not only about the condition of pain, sometimes irreversible, that these people suffer. Also influencing is the fact of not finding an explanation, of not having diagnostic tests that objectively show what you are feeling, and even the sensation of feeling questioned.
To this we must add the fact that Almost 90% of patients with this disease report sleeping poorly and therefore do not have a restful sleep. , which ends up breaking his health. For all these reasons, it is not at all strange that these patients experience signs of such common psychological ailments as anxiety and depression.
Below we will focus on some of these diagnoses, separately, to understand their complexity.
Fibromyalgia and depression
Fibromyalgia patients who develop depression usually show symptoms at different levels. On an emotional level, the most obvious of all, the person will appear sad, with feelings of hopelessness towards their state, towards everything around them and even towards future prospects. It is one of the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia.
Another level is cognitive, that is, that of thoughts. And these can be affected, for example by the so-called bradypsychia, which consists of a slower than normal rhythm in the course of thoughts. Likewise, these will be of a negative nature, highlighting ruminations towards all the factors that worry the subject, generally around their condition as a fibromyalgia patient.
You may experience symptoms of depression on a physical level, such as asthenia, alterations in digestive transit, loss of sexual desire, balance difficulties, or disruption of circadian rhythms, among others. The difficulty that arises around these symptoms is to assign their origin, since they may be caused by the depressive state or by the subject’s own fibromyalgia.
The last of the symptom levels is behavioral, that of behavior. Psychomotor coordination may be altered, constant crying may be experienced, performance for different tasks may have decreased and, speaking of very extreme although rare cases, patients may exert self-lytic attempts.
Fibromyalgia and anxiety
Continuing with the question of the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia, we will now focus on anxiety and its main characteristics when this psychopathology appears in patients who suffer from the condition in question.
Anxiety in people who suffer from fibromyalgia can appear through disorders such as generalized anxiety or panic attacks. Panic attacks can frequently occur in these patients, spontaneously, in a short period of time and with abrupt onset.
Anxiety, both within the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia and in general, involves a series of symptoms on a psychological but also physical level. Psychologically, the subject could experience a feeling of fear, almost terror, while physically they will feel an acceleration of the pulse, breathing difficulties, abdominal pressure, tremors, sweating and even chills.
Although we can all experience a feeling of anxiety at a certain time in our lives, the fact that these sensations appear frequently, intensely and randomly, causing us to lose our adaptive capacity, is what makes it pathological.
If living with a chronic pain disease already presents enormous difficulties, adding the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia makes it even more complicated. And the question does not end there, since Almost half of the patients who suffer from anxiety also show depressive symptoms, so the situation becomes complicated for them.
Treatment for psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia
We have already seen some examples of the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia that occur more frequently. Knowing these cases, it is not surprising that part of the treatment of fibromyalgia is aimed at healing, not just the physical pain, but the psychological pain, which also generates a condition in these people.
Psychological damage has a double risk, since it causes suffering in itself, but it can also contribute to perceiving physical damage as more intense, since the person is losing resources with which to face the pain they are feeling. Therefore, It is essential to act on the associated psychopathology in order to free them as much as possible from additional suffering.
By acting on a psychological level, great improvements can be achieved in the subject’s mood, reducing both their anxious and depressive symptoms. This process will have a direct impact on the way in which the person lives and accepts their disease, fibromyalgia, thus achieving greater tolerance to the pain, with which they must live.
It is also important to keep in mind that these are not only mental factors, since anxiety generates muscle tension that, for a disorder such as fibromyalgia, is fatal, since it only increases the damage that the person is experiencing. experimenting, which in turn increases anxiety.
As we see, It is a vicious circle that feeds on itself and that in turn can increase the symptoms of depression. Therefore, acting on the psychological problems associated with fibromyalgia is vital to achieve an improvement in the quality of life of these patients.
In conclusion, we have been able to see that fibromyalgia is a disorder that affects people who suffer from it, in a comprehensive way, since they have to live with the perspective of always feeling pain. The psychological consequences of this phenomenon are inevitable, and will be more or less profound depending on the characteristics of the person.
But any help you can receive in this regard will have an impact on your state of health, both mental and physical.
