CHRONIC PAIN MUST BE PART OF SUICIDE RISK ASSESSMENT, EXPERTS SAY

Chronic pain can significantly impact an individual's mental well-being, potentially leading to feelings of hopelessness, depression, and ultimately, suicidal thoughts. Recognising this link is crucial for identifying individuals at higher risk and implementing appropriate intervention

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In many parts of India, people live with chronic pain and often present it to doctors as a physical symptom for a medical solution. But when the pain persists -- what does it do to one's mind?

When patients say, "I can't take this anymore," the focus often shifts solely to their mental health, missing the underlying physical distress that has been building up for months or even years.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India had a suicide mortality rate of 16.5 per 100,000 population in 2016 -- significantly higher than the global average with chronic pain emerging as a key risk factor contributing to these deaths.

A growing body of scientific literature, including a recent Lancet Psychiatry study, urge the inclusion of chronic pain as an independent risk factor for suicide in formal risk assessment models. Despite strong neurobiological and epidemiological evidence, chronic pain remains absent from most standardised suicide screening tools -- creating a significant blind spot in clinical practice.

This omission has far-reaching consequences in India, where large segments of the population experience undertreated or unrecognised chronic pain, often without access to psychological support or palliative care especially in rural and underserved regions.

Advances in treating pain, chronic or otherwise, give patients more options for relief

Pain is physical, emotional and social

According to Ramdas Ransing, associate professor of psychiatry at AIIMS Guwahati, the relationship between chronic pain and suicide risk is complex and bidirectional chronic pain can raise the risk of suicide, while individuals at risk of suicide may be more likely to present with somatic symptoms like persistent pain