Suffering from a motor vehicle accident can cause numerous ill effects. Back injuries are among the most common, and they can have a deep impact on a sufferer’s life.
One surprising way that a back injury may have an impact is through the mental health of the victim.
Ties between mental and physical health
According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, back pain can and does cause major problems for victims of back injuries.
First, studies from across the world and spanning decades have shown a strong and provable relationship between chronic pain and mental health issues. Particularly, depression and anxiety seem connected to chronic pain, though traumatic and stressor-based disorders may also play a role.
Chronic pain manifests in a different way for every person. Some may deal with intense bursts of pain that do not last for long periods of time but recur often over the space of weeks, months or years. Others may experience a more low-key pain that persists almost constantly.
Differences in chronic pain
The type of chronic pain a person faces will often influence their state of mental health, too. The more intense or long-lived chronic pain is, the more a person may struggle with the resulting depression, anxiety or so on.
The difficulties that a victim faces regarding mental health vary depending on numerous factors. It is essentially impossible to predict how a victim’s mental health will look in the aftermath of a crash.
However, knowing to expect mental health issues at all will give a person more tools to combat or face these hurdles with.
