Investigation of the relationship between coping attitudes, psychological pain and psychological pain tolerance in patients with depressive disorder

Purpose: Depressive disorder is a psychiatric disorder in which depression, loss of interest and desire, changes in appetite, energy, concentration, thoughts of guilt and suicidal thoughts may be seen. Depressive disorder and psychological pain which is experienced in the form of intense negative emotions are serious risk factors for suicide. Recent studies have shown that being able to tolerate psychological pain is more effective on suicide attempt than psychological pain. It is considered that cultural differences and coping skills have an effect on psychological pain tolerance. It was aimed in this study to reveal the relationship between psychological pain, psychological pain tolerance and coping skills in patients with depressive disorder. Method: The study was conducted in Psychiatry Polyclinic of Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine. The sample of the study consisted of individuals with a diagnosis of depressive disorder and healthy individuals in the control group. Socio-demographic data form, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Suicidal Ideation Scale, Psychache Scale, Tolerance for Mental Pain Scale and Cope Inventory were performed to the individuals in both groups. Findings: In our study, partial mediation was determined between psychological pain tolerance and coping skills (p<0.001). A positive correlation was also found between Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Psychache Scale, Beck Suicidal Ideation Scale, and dysfunctional coping skills. On the other hand, a negative correlation was found between these data and the scores of Tolerance for Mental Pain Scale (p<0.001). The Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, dysfunctional coping skills, and Psychache Scale scores were statistically and significantly higher among individuals who had been diagnosed with depression and who had a history of suicide attempt and who had not. On the other hand, the Tolerance for Mental Pain Scale was found to be statistically and significantly lower (p<0.05). Result: It has been concluded in our study that coping skills have a partial mediation effect on the pain tolerance capacity of individuals who suffer from psychological pain. Findings have presented that the cases that are using dysfunctional coping skills feel more intense psychological pain and they are less able to tolerate psychological pain. It is believed that more studies are needed to make this issue clearer by focusing on larger samples. Keywords: Coping skills, depressive disorder, suicide, psychological pain, psychological pain tolerance