CONTACT: John Walls, Texas Tech Medical Center media relations
(806) 743-2143, [email protected]
Battling the Painful Blues
LUBBOCK -- Happy scenes of the holidays can fade to physical pain and dark mental moods for some people.
Pat Randolph, a psychologist in the Pain Clinic at Texas Tech Medical Center, said a number of factors cause December through February to be very difficult and painful times.
"Many people have pain that, for one reason or another, is really worse when it gets cold," Randolph said. "Another thing about the winter months is that there's less sunlight available and a lot of people get depressed because they don't have access to the sunlight. Also, the Christmas holiday season can be very difficult for people who don't have families or who are estranged from them.
"So the combination of cold weather, less sunlight and the holidays provide the potential for depression and for increased pain."
Because the body's relationship between the physical and the mental is so closely tied together, the combination of both physical and mental factors can lead to a rapidly decreasing health pattern for many people, he said.
Randolph has a simple questionnaire for people to determine if their health is taking a turn for the worse.
Are you experiencing persistent pain that has lasted more than three months?
Does your pain continue despite the use of over-the-counter medications?
Is your sleep disturbed?
Is your energy impaired?
Do you feel down in the dumps, irritable or are you short with loved ones?
"Answering yes to these questions indicates that you could benefit from talking with your primary care physician, a psychiatrist or a psychologist," Randolph said. "With the appropriate help, patients can see a fairly quick upswing in their health and feel much better about themselves."
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