myStrength Releases Resources for Chronic Pain Management and Opioid Use
Behavioral Self-Care Solution Addresses Pain and Opioid Epidemic
DENVER – December 8, 2016 - myStrength, Inc., an innovative leader in digital behavioral healthcare, has deepened its evidence-based self-care resources to address chronic pain and the overuse of opioids.
Nearly 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain every year. In fact, pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined.
The cost of unaddressed pain is a significant public health issue with wide-ranging implications for payers, providers and caregivers. Chronic pain, a highly-complex condition, is often associated with other mental health conditions. It is estimated that 60 percent of individuals dealing with chronic pain also experience depression and/or anxiety. The cost of managing pain and its co-occurring conditions is estimated at over $560 billion annually.[1]
Complicating the chronic pain problem is the over-prescription of opioids. Experts agree that opioids, commonly prescribed to treat chronic pain, have contributed to a nationwide crisis. Opioid prescriptions for pain have increased 300 percent over the past two decades, creating new opportunities for misuse of this highly-addictive and potentially-lethal class of drugs. Seventy-eight Americans die every day of an opiate drug overdose, and over half of those deaths are from doctor-prescribed opiate pain medication.[2]
“Opioid addiction is a health care issue, not a moral-failure issue. Treatment capacity, really, is the crisis. There just aren’t enough physical resources to manage the current epidemic. Innovative, consumer-focused solutions like myStrength offer clinicians and physicians essential abilites to extend better care, while providing consumers with empowering self-management resources to address the underlying chronic pain condition -- and become better educated on the use of opioids,” said Linda Rosenberg, CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health.
Encouraged by new recommendations from the CDC, payers and providers are looking for effective alternatives for treating chronic pain. Bio-psycho-social approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy or mindfulness offer low-risk, effective solutions to managing most types of chronic pain. Yet most physicians, psychologists and therapists report feeling unprepared to address pain psychology, and consumers are often not aware of their non-pharmacological options.[3]
myStrength collaborated with leading chronic pain experts from the public and commercial sector, integrated content from New Harbinger Publications (the largest publisher of evidence-based self-care resources), and gathered input from a broad consumer panel to create a range of interactive tools and resources to manage pain and opioid usage. The resulting innovative chronic pain resources are seamlessly integrated into the myStrength platform, which already provides consumers with engaging online self-help tools for stress, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. myStrength uniquely offers healthcare payers and providers an efficient and effective consumer platform to address condition-specific and co-morbid behavioral health conditions. View Chronic Pain Video
“myStrength helps fill the gap between generalized pain management and prescription opioid use. Through education, encouragement and evidence-based pain management tools, myStrength helps members evaluate their treatment options and make thoughtful choices about opioid use,” said Scott Cousino, myStrength’s CEO. “We provide 24/7 access to evidence-based resources for managing pain, helping our members live more meaningful lives, while also addressing any co-occurring issues of depression, anxiety or addiction.”
About myStrength
myStrength, Inc. is a recognized leader and one of the fastest-growing digital behavioral health companies in the US. myStrength enhances traditional care models while addressing issues of cost, lack of access and stigma in order to deliver mental health and well-being resources at scale. Our platform targets the most prevalent and costly behavioral health conditions, empowering consumers with innovative self-care resources to manage and overcome challenges with depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and chronic pain. myStrength collaborates with over 100 health plans, community behavioral health centers, integrated health systems and ACOs. For more information please visit www.myStrength.com
[1] Darrell J. Gaskin, Patrick Richard. “The Economic Costs of Pain in the United States.” The Journal of Pain, 2012; 13 (8): 715
[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/
[3] Darnall et al. “Pain Psychology: A Global Needs Assessment and National Call to Action 2016.” Pain Medicine, 2016; 00: 1–14 https://bethdarnall.com/blog/2016/1/24/pain-psychology-a-global-needs-assessment-and-national-call-to-action
