Fibromyalgia Questions: Part Two

Earlier today we posted an excerpt from Fibromyalgia: An Essential Guide for Patients and Their Families by Daniel J. Wallace, M.D. and Janice Brock Wallace. In this second excerpt, we look at the correspondence between depression and fibromyalgia. Are sufferers more likely to be depressed? Are depressed people more like to have fibromyalgia?

Do I Hurt Because I’m Depressed Or Am I Depressed Because I Hurt?

Is fibromyalgia a manifestation of depression or the reverse? Well-designed studies have addressed this issue, but many used different methods, populations, ethnic groupings, referral sources, and geographical distributions. In any case, the results were reasonably similar. On average, these studies showed that about 18 percent of fibromyalgia patients have evidence of a major depression in their lifetime. What does this mean? At any point in time, the overwhelming majority of fibromyalgia patients are not seriously depressed. And if they are depressed, it’s usually because they do not feel well. This condition is called reactive depression and is reversible with treatment, as opposed to endogenous depression, which is caused by chemical imbalances and is much harder to treat. A well-designed study of depressed patients demonstrated that fewer than 10% had two or more tender points.