The Link Between Suicide and Chronic Pain

Recently, the Times Free Press covered an article focusing on chronic pain and suicidal tendencies.  Unfortunately, all too often, those with chronic pain tend to develop suicidal thoughts as they see no effective treatment or cure for their pain. 

According to the article, there have been several large-scale studies that show that at least 10% of suicides (with some studies reporting numbers as large as 70%) are correlated with an extended illness or chronic pain. Other research has shown that chronic pain is often linked to depression, so it should not come as a surprise that suicidal thoughts often follow a dual diagnosis of depression and chronic pain.

 Chronic pain is one of the most common and misunderstood medical issues in the world.  It is also extremely difficult to treat, especially in the long term. Some sufferers of chronic pain become shut-ins and do not interact with those in the outside world.  Often, chronic pain patients often deal with social stigma associated from people who do not fully understand the disorder or do not consider it a real medical problem.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving Blair and the seven surrounding counties in central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for clients who are experiencing chronic pain as the result of an injury due to the fault of another.   For more information on his Altoona, PA area firm, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.