The exerience of pain in depressed patients. A clinical and experimental study.

An experience of pain according to Merskey's definition was found in 24 out of 40 consecutive patients with depressive disorders. No age or sex differences were found between patients with and those without an experience of pain. In a comparison of ratings using the Cronholm-Ottosson depression rating scale, patients with an experience of pain were found to have a more severe type of depression, more psychic and vegetative anxiety, more motoric restlessness, more local tension, more thoughts of suicide, more hypochondriacal ideas, more sleep disturbances and a higher total depression score. On the other hand, no difference was found as regards depressive ideas, intellectual, conative or emotional inhibition or psychomotoric retardation. In the experimental part of the study, 30 patients -- 18 with an experience of pain -- were investigated with pain measures and visual averaged evoked responses. No differences were found in pain measures between patients with and those without an experience of pain. Out of 18 patients with an experience of pain, 15 were found to be augmenters as measured by visual averaged evoked responses. In the group of patients without pain only 4 out of 12 patients were augmenters.