Exposure to traumatic stressors and psychological trauma is widespread, with a wide range of cognitive and behavioral responses/outcomes among trauma survivors [1]. The association of traumatic exposures with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions is well known [2]. Although traumatic events are associated with PTSD in the literature, traumatized people do not meet DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition) criteria for PTSD in many cases and often present a range of psychoform or somatoform symptoms [3]. Considerable overlap in symptoms and disease comorbidity has been noted for medically unexplained symptoms in the primary care setting, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, low back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, primary headaches, fibromyalgia (FM), temporomandibular joint disorder, major depression, panic attacks, and PTSD [4]. It is not unusual for patients presenting with chronic pain to describe significant levels of distress, including PTSD symptomatology. One of the first studies in this field was conducted in the past decade and investigated chronic pain patterns inVietnamveterans with PTSD. Those reporting chronic pain showed significantly higher somatization than the others [5].
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