Mechanisms of heightened pain-related disability in CAF servicemembers and Veterans with comorbid chronic pain and PTSD

Abstract

LAY SUMMARY Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) servicemembers and Veterans with chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were surveyed. Participants with a high number of PTSD symptoms had a higher vulnerability to becoming psychologically traumatized by their chronic pain than participants with a low number of PTSD symptoms. In turn, participants with this high vulnerability reported experiencing more disability from their chronic pain than participants with a low vulnerability. In addition, participants with a high number of PTSD symptoms tended to have many catastrophic thoughts about their pain. In turn, these participants reported experiencing more disability from their chronic pain than participants with few catastrophic thoughts about their pain. PTSD may lead servicemembers and Veterans to experience high disability from their chronic pain by increasing how traumatized they feel by their pain and by increasing the number of catastrophic thoughts they have about their pain. Targeting pain-related psychological trauma symptoms and catastrophic thoughts when treating servicemembers and Veterans with chronic pain and PTSD may be effective at reducing disability from chronic pain.