Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability. Post-injury distress is common, with many individuals experiencing chronic anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as chronic pain. In a collection of articles, experts report on findings that shed light on the relationship between stress and pain following a TBI and implications for rehabilitation.
Fifty million people globally sustain a TBI every year, with an estimated yearly cost of around $400 billion. TBI may significantly impact a person’s social, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning, which may hamper a return to previous roles.
“The brain, in concert with the body’s systems, orchestrates the response to stress, the goal being to reduce uncertainty and ensure existence,” explained guest editor Gary Goldberg, BASc, MD, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical College of Virginia / Virginia Commonwealth University Healthcare System, Richmond, VA. “This adaptive response to stress is called ‘allostasis.’ A brain injury increases the likelihood of chronic allostatic overload, or chronic stress, in some patients, making them more prone to a variety of stress-related physical ailments, including chronic pain and posttraumatic stress syndrome.”
