Introduction: Pain is the most common symptom reported by patients, and anxiety and depression are also the most common mental disorders reported in family medicine outpatient clinics. Anxiety and depressive disorders are most commonly co-occurring with pain and analgesic opioids are most commonly prescribed instead of appropriate treatment. Purpose: Purpose of this thesis is to present how psychosomatic pain manifests itself in patients with anxiety and depressive disorders and the importance of maintaining and enhancing mental health. Methods: We used a review of Slovenian and foreign literature. The search was conducted in the databases of the University of Ljubljana Digital Library Web Portal and in the databases COBISS, PubMed, MedLine, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, CINAHL and Cochrane Library. The age of the literature included in the analysis is from 2013 onwards. Searching for suitable literature lasted from January to July 2021. Results: Anxiety-depressive disorders are associated with chronic pain, and chronic pain is also associated with anxiety-depressive disorders. Depression and anxiety are associated with higher pain intensity and conversely, pain is expected to lead to a greater development of anxiety-depressive disorders. The factors influencing pain are manifold. Roughly speaking, these include various stressful events in childhood, sleep quality, genetics and the impact of the environment on the patient. These factors are closely interrelated, so one factor can defeat all the others or, conversely, one factor can improve all the others. The cognitive factor is a very important factor that contributes to pain management and acceptance. Religion and the close community can be of great help here, as this is how he can see his condition and accept it. Patients often suffer from chronic pain, but underlying this is the development of an anxiety-depressive disorder. Thus, patients are often prescribed an analgesic opioid instead of appropriate treatment. Discussion and conclusion: It is important to treat patients holistically, taking into account the biological, psychological, social and ethical-spiritual factors that influence the experience of pain. More emphasis should be placed on preventive activities and raising awareness in the general population about mental health and chronic pain, which is a consequence of mental balance and vice versa.
|
