Have you ever been to the doctor complaining of various aches and pains and your physician asks if you are feeling “depressed?” Is there a connection between feeling achy and depression?
“Depression is a mood disorder diagnosed by tell-tale symptoms such as fatigue, lethargy, or poor sleep,” reports WebMD. But depression may manifest itself in physical aches and pains that offer no obvious cause, such as unexplained chest pain, muscle ache, trembling, or hot flashes.
“If you have stomach pain and there’s an ulcer, that’s an explanation for it. But often, physical ills occur for no apparent reason — and depression could be a likely cause,” says study researcher Robert D. Keeley, MD, of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. “Yet unless they are specifically screened for depression, it’s hard for some doctors to pick up that it may be depression, especially in the primary care setting.”
Mood disorders, such as depression, can lead individuals to become worried about aches that normally wouldn’t bother them. Other physical symptoms of depression include energy loss, fatigue, abdominal, chest and joint and lower back pain, and headache.
Anyone suffering from depression, or thinking they may be suffering from depression, should get evaluated by seeking professional help from a doctor, counselor, psychologist, or other trusted medical practitioner. It’s easy to focus on the many symptoms that depression causes, but the best way to treat this condition is to get to the root of the problem with immediate and expert care.
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