ABSTRACT
For some trauma victims there is little respite from the horrors of their experience. When they sleep the nightmares flood in and they become fearful of going to sleep, and to make the hell worse, pain may disturb their sleep and act as a reminder of their trauma. It seems likely that the neurocircuitry of pain and emotion overlap and one affects the other. For example if you have a bit of a headache and you get a telephone call that you have just won the National Lottery, suddenly the headache is barely noticeable. Alternatively if you have just had a bad argument with your partner, the headache feels worse. The management of mood becomes doubly important for those whose post-traumatic stress symptoms are complicated by chronic pain, as negative mood will likely intensify the experience of pain.
