PTSD and pain have been found to commonly co-occur. People with
PTSD have been found to be at a higher risk for a number of
mental and physical health problems. For example, having PTSD is
linked to problems with depression, dissociation and substance
use as well as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. In
addition to these problems, people with PTSD are more likely
than those without PTSD to experience problems with pain. PTSD
and Pain Studies have found that pain is one of the most
regularly reported physical problem reported by people with PTSD
— no matter what type of traumatic event was experienced (motor
vehicle accident, physical assault or combat). People with PTSD
are also more likely to report disability due to the experience
of pain. For example, one study of volunteer firefighters with
PTSD found that approximately 50% were experiencing pain (mostly
in the form of back pain) as compared with only about 20% of
firefighters without PTSD. Two other studies found that 20 to
30% of patients with