Diagnosing chronic pain and depression can take some time. Often times it is misdiagnosed as something else. Not all times a person will have all of the typical symptoms of depression so this might created some difficulty for the doctor.
Chronic pain and depression are directly linked. Often times someone might go to the doctor complaining of pain in their stomach or a severe headache. The doctor may run several tests and find nothing. The doctor may prescribe several medications for the headache like migraine pills only to find that the medication is not working. The doctor may go so far as to have a brain scan done because he or she might fear there is a tumor causing the pain. A chronic headache that won't go away could very well be a tumor. However, chronic pain and depression are linked also and a headache that won't go away for months can be a symptom of depression.
The primary symptoms of depression can be very obvious for someone like crying, moping, not doing anything, not eating, and more. If a person is not showing any of the obvious signs of depression and is still able to maintain a job and functioning day to day but in major pain, the depression is hard to figure out right away for a doctor.
People have been known to get addicted to pain pills while they are suffering from chronic pain from depression. They like the way the pills make them feel because they might just sleep and not deal with whatever issues are causing them to be depressed. Pain killers can be addicting and if they continue to take pills for the pain and not deal with what is causing the pain, this can lead to addiction.
Chronic pain and depression are directly linked. If you are seeing a doctor for chronic pain and you have been unable to determine what the cause of the chronic pain is stemming from, you might want to ask yourself if you are depressed. There is treatment to eliminate the pain and make you a happier person from day to day.
