The Impact of Physical Pain on Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

Clinical Pain Advisor 

November 19, 2015
Michael O’Leary

Chronic pain affects 100 million Americans and costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatments and lost productivity, according to a 2011 report by the Institute of Medicine examining chronic pain as a public health problem.1

The depth of the problem was brought into sharp focus last month with a report from Princeton researchers2 showing a unique and startling rise in midlife mortality among white, non-Hispanic Americans driven, in part, by suicides and drug poisonings. (published site) 

HADS: A Quick and Effective Measure of Anxiety and Depression in Acute Pain

Michael O’Leary

November 04, 2015

HADS was developed specifically to avoid reliance on
confounding factors that are present in depression and
anxiety, but also occur as symptoms of illness or
treatment side effects.

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a valid measure of anxiety and depression in patients with acute lower back pain, according to a study published in The Journal of Pain.¹

HADS was developed specifically to avoid reliance on confounding factors that are present in depression and anxiety, but also occur as symptoms of illness or treatment side effects. (published site)