caret icon Back to all discussions

Mental health

Hello I’m new here as you can likely tell by my post . Thanks for adding me to this group . Since after neck injury in 1997 I have lived with chronic pain and chronic fatigue . I did not know I had A.S until I made my first connection with someone who was able to explain my my stiff sore neck etc. stayed and worsened and I feel that someone basically saved my life with his expertise etc. so I’m in good hands with all that to say the least but suffered mentally since then other than being diagnosed with depression in 2001 then was left alone to live with it and despite trying unsuccessfully since 2015 again but I still don’t know how to deal with it because other than knowing I have serious depression and serious anxiety the serious problems with concentration etc. that I also explained as mental dullness has not been helped yet . I saw a neurologist about it in 2019 and his test results told him that I have a problem paying attention and that did for a fact make sense to me but his report was made for me to take to a psychologist but so far my mental problems with my brain not able to function properly after so many years of isolation has been said to be somatoform but after researching that subject I couldn’t see anything at all that relates to me . Is there something I’m missing or don’t understand about the relationship between somatoform and A.S ? between the day of my neck injury in 1997 and 2010 I went from minimally symptomatic to within the 5% worse case scenerios of A.S ( as reported and documented ) . Is there a mental health care professional in Manitoba or anywhere for that matter that can explain how somatoform relates to my experience ?

  1. Hi ,
    Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear what you are going through.
    Unfortunately, we cannot give medical advice over the internet (for your own safety), nor can we refer you to a physician.
    I will however mention that AS can affect one's mental health. I thought I'd share these two articles that may give you a better insight: https://ankylosingspondylitis.net/mental-health and https://ankylosingspondylitis.net/living/advocating-mental-health
    Wishing you all the best, Doreen (Team Member)

    Please read our rules before posting.