Dealing with Chronic Pain

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Research shows a link between chronic pain and issues like anxiety, anger, and depression.

Many common emotional problems are bidirectionally related to chronic pain.

Functional limitations caused by chronic pain can result in emotional distress.

We tend to view chronic pain (CP) as a body issue; a problem that lives mainly within our physical system and causes tangible aches, pain, stiffness, tightness, soreness, and general discomfort. But there is an emotional component to chronic pain that is often either overlooked or misunderstood. Understanding the intersection of physical pain and emotional pain is necessary in taking a holistic view of the body-mind dyad.

This correlation between physical pain and emotional distress continues to be of great interest, and recent research indicates that around 40 percent of individuals with chronic pain experience clinically significant symptoms of depression or anxiety and that “the co-occurrence of chronic pain with depression and anxiety is a significant public health concern” (Aaron et al., 2025).

Meta-analyzed data from 110 studies revealed that among individuals who experienced CP, a range of psychological problems were observed, including depression, anxiety, somatization, anger, low self-esteem, and disturbance to normal emotional functioning (Burke et al., 2015).

A 2025 umbrella review concluded that CP and mental disorders frequently co-occur and reported evidence of bidirectional relationships, particularly between depression and chronic pain (Stubbs et al., 2025). This undeniable relationship between the physical and the emotional can help us better understand why and how CP can directly affect emotional functioning.

Depression: “My Body Is Betraying Me”

Clinically speaking, depression is often associated with feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, and for individuals with CP, this sense of helplessness is driven by the feeling that their physical body is failing or betraying........

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