Diagnosing Depression in Chronic Pain Patients: DSM-IV Major Depressive Disorder vs. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Background: Diagnosing depression in chronic pain is challenging due to overlapping somatic symptoms. In questionnaires, such as the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), responses may be influenced more by pain than by the severity of depression. In addition, previous studies have suggested that symptoms of negative self-image, a key element in depression, are uncommon in chronic pain-related depression.

Temperament traits and chronic pain: the association of harm avoidance and pain-related anxiety.

Objective: Anxiety symptoms are common in chronic pain patients. High levels of anxiety are associated with increased pain experience and disability. Proneness to anxiety has a large interindividual variation.

Psychiatric disorders as assessed with SCID in chronic pain patients: the anxiety disorders precede the onset of pain.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in patients referred to a tertiary pain clinic. The temporal relationship between the onset of pain and depression and anxiety and the association of psychiatric disorders with pain intensity were also analyzed.

Method: One hundred consecutive outpatients underwent a psychiatric assessment using the Structured Clinical Interview and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Axis I.

Pain intensity influences the relationship between anger management style and depression.

There is an abundance of studies concerning depression and pain, while the mechanisms and the relationships of anger expression and pain are less well known. The validity of commonly used depression questionnaires as measures of depression in pain patients has been questioned, as they include items which can be related to the pain problem as well as to signs of depression. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between pain severity, various signs of depression, and anger management style.