Rheumatic and mental disorders are common and affect each other. The comorbidities are often diagnosed too late or not at all but cause considerable suffering for those affected and have a negative effect on the health-related quality of life and therapeutic success.
Is there any evidence regarding common pathophysiological mechanisms and how can they be considered in terms of therapy?
Recent findings, reviews and basic literature are analyzed and an update is presented and discussed.
The current data suggest a mutual influence of the factors stress and inflammation both in depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and chronic pain, as well as in diseases of the rheumatic type. There is a close relationship between immunological and neuronal processes that bi-directionally regulate the individual's stress response.
For sufficient therapy the establishment of an interdisciplinary treatment concept in clinical everyday life is to be striven for. In addition to rheumatic treatment, this should include a multimodal approach to both pharmacological and psycho-socio-therapeutic components. In particular, potential interactions must be taken into account.