Oxford experts concluded that the sensation of pain does not just become more acute when a person is tense or in a bad mood. The researchers decided to test this phenomenon empirically, and it turned out that the pain intensifies when two factors combine: bodily malaise and psychological depression. Depression and pain are very often combined, but the mechanism of action has so far been poorly understood.
Scientists used the brain scan method to see how people with certain pain sensations change the intensity of pain depending on how their mood changes. Detailed studies have shown that depressed mood causes impaired neurocirculation in the brain, which directly causes an increase in the perception of pain. A depressed state also causes an even more negative perception of one’s own state, which drives patients even more discouraged.
Dr. Berna says that depressed people find the pain less tolerant, more intense than people who are in a balanced mood. Emotional instability leads to the fact that the pain intensifies, begins to control, in turn, the mood of the person. This studied dependence is extremely important for medicine. It will help in the treatment of seriously ill people. For example, cancer patients whose mood must be kept at a high level for their recovery. Doctors advise people suffering from headaches or any other pain to control their emotional state.