Chronic pain may make it more difficult to treat trauma, indicates study news-medical.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news-medical.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, affects many people who are exposed to extreme situations, such as torture. Recent research suggests that chronic pain may make it more difficult to treat trauma. Trauma-focused therapy is effective for many patients with PTSD, enabling them to talk through the trauma they experienced , according to Iselin Solerød Dibaj, a psychologist at Oslo University Hospital.
However, not everyone benefits equally from this form of therapy. Torture victims who struggle with both chronic pain and PTSD unfortunately often reap less benefit from ordinary treatment, says Dibaj.
The Red Cross estimates that between 10 000 and 35 000 people with a refugee background who have come to Norway have experienced torture, reflecting the great need for effective treatment in this country as well.