From an emotional and psychological standpoint, people with fibromyalgia are at increased risk of developing chronic depression. In all likelihood, this depression results from having to deal with constant pain, loss of sleep, lack of energy, and being forced to give up activities the patient once enjoyed. As with fibromyalgia headaches, researchers aren’t sure whether the proverbial chicken or the proverbial egg comes first; depression may not be the result of a patient’s will wearing down over time, but rather, they could be caused independently, through changes in brain chemistry.
For patients, the good news is that fibromyalgia seems to respond well to certain antidepressants. These drugs don’t just help relieve the symptoms of depression, but they also seem to calm down the constant pain, muscle stiffness, muscle spams and other physiological symptoms of the syndrome. Your doctor may prescribe them even if you haven’t developed any symptoms of depression.