Exactly why higher pain severity is associated with depression is not clear. Many studies have shown clearly that people with arthritis with the highest pain levels are the most likely to be anxious or depressed. Furthermore, people with arthritis and depression tend to have more functional limitations, are less likely to adhere to their treatment regimens, and have increased odds of developing other health problems. The vicious cycle of pain, poor health and negative mood can significantly change the course and management of your arthritis. And then the chronic pain aggravates your anxiety and depression. Studies also show that anxiety and depression can lower your pain threshold. But data shows that the rates can be between two and 10 times greater than the rates in the general population, depending on the type of arthritis. Rates of depression and anxiety in people with arthritis-related diseases vary depending on the population, the size of the study, and the measurement tools used. Depression is characterized by sadness, a lack of interest in daily activities, weight loss or gain, sleeplessness or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.Anxiety is characterized by feelings of tension, worry and irritability along with physical changes like increased blood pressure.

Mental health problems can worsen arthritis symptoms.Īccording to the American Psychological Association: This most commonly manifests as depression or anxiety.

The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver () applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.Having any form of arthritis - osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), juvenile arthritis, lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, gout, fibromyalgia or related conditions - can have a negative effect on your mental health. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

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