Psychiatric Coexistence During Physical Illness

It is quite common for individuals facing serious medical conditions to simultaneously experience mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, etc.

A comprehensive psychological evaluation is essential to establish a differential diagnosis—determining whether the psychiatric symptoms predate the physical illness or are emerging in response to the current treatment or condition.

For instance, depression may act as a cause, a contributing factor, or a consequence of poor management of chronic pain or neglect in care, quality of life. It could also be somatization as a means of symbolically displacing internal conflicts in an attempt to psychologically organize an unbearable event and avoid distress.