What
a breakthrough this would be! Here’s my review of The Influence of Depression and Anxiety on Risk of Adult Onset Vulvodynia by
Maheruh Khandker, Sonya S. Brady, Allison F. Vitonis, Richard F. MacLehose,
Elizabeth G. Stewart, and Bernard L. Harlow before I say too much more…
The researchers sent out a questionnaire,
they received 662 back who reported having vulvar pain (for more than 3 months)
and 9922 women with no vulvar pain. Of those women with vulvar pain, 56 were
diagnosed with vulvodynia. There were a total of 240 participants, the participants
without vulvodynia were used as a control group.
Women were measured for Major Depressive Disorder, dysthymia (low
levels of depression), general anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder,
obsessive compulsive disorder, social phobia and agoraphobia (fear of leaving
the house). The main goal was to measure whether the onset of depression/anxiety
occurred in women before their vulvodynia symptoms, after the onset of symptoms,
or both before and after, to see if depression/anxiety may cause vulvodynia or
if vulvodynia causes the depression/anxiety.
They found that women with vulvodynia
were more likely to have a history of mood or anxiety disorders and were more likely
to develop them (no matter the age). 26.7% of the Women with vulvodynia in the study
had a mood or anxiety disorder before the onset of vulvodynia symptoms compared
to 11.3% of the women in the control group (similar time frame used). Women with
vulvodynia had rates of new mood and anxiety disorders seven times greater than
the women with no vulvodynia pain history.
This study shows
that anxiety and depression don’t always only occur after the symptoms of
vulvodynia arise. The researchers believe this study could be used as evidence
to support the hypothesis that depression and anxiety could cause vulvodynia.
I don’t
believe this study provides too much evidence to support that, but it still is
an interesting study, and I hope to find some more studies that look into this
(even though this is quite a recent study, 2011!). I have a few criticisms…
firstly, the study only looked at 56 women, which the researchers can’t help,
but they may have found more support for their hypothesis with more participants.
The other thing is that depression and anxiety are SO COMMON now. I’m not sure
that (if we looked at a way larger sample size) we would find that women with
vulvodynia have more depression/anxiety before their symptoms arise compared to
women who don’t develop vulvodynia. As much as I wish that were the case,
because then we’d be able to possibly prevent vulvodynia from occurring just by
helping women avoid depression and anxiety. But if vulvodynia WAS caused by
these mood disorders, don’t you think it’d be a quick cure? Get rid of your
depression or anxiety, and your pain will go away… I get depressed sometimes,
but my pain is no better when I’m not depressed, and it isn’t significantly
worse when I am depressed.
I must say
though, I did have depression before my diagnosis, and I did develop an anxiety
disorder after the diagnosis. I have conquered my anxiety, and as I said, I am
rarely depressed. Yes, I get sad some days, but who doesn’t? I haven’t truly
been depressed for a while now. Is my pain gone? Not yet.
I hate being a
Negative Nancy, but when treatments continually fall short you start acting pretty
sceptical! It never hurts to tackle your depression/anxiety though, and if you
do experience one or the other (or both!) I do strongly recommend starting off
by treating it (whether it be with medication or behavioural techniques or
whatever else) because it does help keep your hopes up while pushing through
your treatments, your pain, your relationships, etc. I am so glad I have reduced
my anxiety, and it truly has made a difference for me and my diagnosis, I have
more support, more confidence and self-esteem (which was something I thought
vulvodynia had taken away from me).
I’m ranting now… but it feels good! That’s the
main point here readers, just feel good! Make it your goal for the day :)Here's the reference and link to the article: Khandker, M., Brady, S. S., Vitonis, A. F., MacLehose, R. F., Stewart, E. G., & Harlow, B. L. (2011). The influence of depression and anxiety on risk of adult onset vulvodynia. Journal Of Women's Health, 20(10), 1445-1451. doi:10.1089/jwh.2010.2661
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