TY - JOUR
AU - U. Majid
AU - T. Hoppe
AU - N. Held
AU - D. Pedlar
AU - K. Kuluski
A1 - 
AB - Military Veterans are disproportionately affected by both chronic pain and mental illness, yet these conditions are often treated and understood in isolation. Existing clinical and policy frameworks rarely reflect the lived and living realities of Veterans who experience these forms of suffering as deeply interconnected. Understanding how Veterans themselves make sense of the relationship between chronic pain and mental illness is critical for developing more responsive, integrated care. This study asked Veterans how they understood the connection between their chronic pain and mental illness, and how this has enduring impacts on their everyday lives as Veterans in a civilian world. The objective of this study was to explore how Canadian Veterans perceive and navigate the connections between their chronic pain and mental illness in everyday life. Drawing upon interviews with 20 Canadian Veterans, they described chronic pain and mental illness as cyclical, dynamic, and shaped by personal and contextual factors. Chronic pain was seen to intensify mental illness, while mental illness amplified the experience of pain, producing a self-reinforcing loop of suffering. This cycle led to social withdrawal, loss of identity, diminished coping capacity, and reluctance to seek help. Many Veterans linked their pain to unresolved psychological trauma, interpreting it as a bodily expression of their military past. Conversely, a mental health diagnosis sometimes offered explanatory value and validation for their pain. Veterans described a constant negotiation between these conditions, mediated by the challenges of civilian reintegration and shifts in identity. Findings are discussed in relation to existing literature and theoretical frameworks to deepen our understanding of the entangled nature of chronic pain and mental illness in Veteran's lives.
AD - Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.; Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.; Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.; Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Canada.
AN - 41926486
BT - PLOS Ment Health
C5 - Healthcare Disparities
CP - 4
DO - 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000550
DP - NLM
ET - 20260402
IS - 4
JF - PLOS Ment Health
LA - eng
N2 - Military Veterans are disproportionately affected by both chronic pain and mental illness, yet these conditions are often treated and understood in isolation. Existing clinical and policy frameworks rarely reflect the lived and living realities of Veterans who experience these forms of suffering as deeply interconnected. Understanding how Veterans themselves make sense of the relationship between chronic pain and mental illness is critical for developing more responsive, integrated care. This study asked Veterans how they understood the connection between their chronic pain and mental illness, and how this has enduring impacts on their everyday lives as Veterans in a civilian world. The objective of this study was to explore how Canadian Veterans perceive and navigate the connections between their chronic pain and mental illness in everyday life. Drawing upon interviews with 20 Canadian Veterans, they described chronic pain and mental illness as cyclical, dynamic, and shaped by personal and contextual factors. Chronic pain was seen to intensify mental illness, while mental illness amplified the experience of pain, producing a self-reinforcing loop of suffering. This cycle led to social withdrawal, loss of identity, diminished coping capacity, and reluctance to seek help. Many Veterans linked their pain to unresolved psychological trauma, interpreting it as a bodily expression of their military past. Conversely, a mental health diagnosis sometimes offered explanatory value and validation for their pain. Veterans described a constant negotiation between these conditions, mediated by the challenges of civilian reintegration and shifts in identity. Findings are discussed in relation to existing literature and theoretical frameworks to deepen our understanding of the entangled nature of chronic pain and mental illness in Veteran's lives.
PY - 2026
SN - 2837-8156
SP - e0000550
ST - The lived and living experiences of having chronic pain and mental illness among Canadian veterans: A qualitative descriptive study
T1 - The lived and living experiences of having chronic pain and mental illness among Canadian veterans: A qualitative descriptive study
T2 - PLOS Ment Health
TI - The lived and living experiences of having chronic pain and mental illness among Canadian veterans: A qualitative descriptive study
U1 - Healthcare Disparities
U3 - 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000550
VL - 3
VO - 2837-8156
Y1 - 2026
ER -