My doctor told me that patients who are “neurotic” don’t do as well after back surgery. What are these traits?

Neurosis is the name that used to describe people who had a mental disorder with anxiety. Neurotic people avoided other people. It’s now used to refer to a larger group of mental disorders.

The American Psychiatric Association explains these in a book about mental disorders called The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). This is often on the shelves at the public library or local hospital or clinic.

A recent study of back pain and success after surgery was reported by the Swedish Lumbar Spine group. Chronic low back pain patients from 19 different centers were included. The authors of this study found that patients with “neurotic” traits had a worse result after surgery to fuse the spine.

Some of the symptoms of neurosis for this study include being tense and stiff, uneasy, easily panicked, and restless. The non-neurotic patients were more relaxed, comfortable, and self-confident. They had a better result after surgery than the patients with neurotic traits.

Researchers think this is because non-neurotic patients cope with pain better. These patients turn the problem into a good one.