One year after the launch of its call for projects “Pain and mental health”, relating to the subject of mental health, the APICIL Foundation announces the 14 research and care teams that it supports for a total amount of €300,000. Selected from 81 applications by a multidisciplinary jury of 17 experts, these projects explore, throughout France, the still poorly documented links between physical pain and psychological suffering.
The majority of selected projects question the link between chronic pain and psychiatric vulnerability — depression, post-traumatic stress, bipolar disorder, suicidal risk — in pathologies as diverse as sickle cell anemia, fibromyalgia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (1) or cancer.
Several teams are exploring populations for which this intricacy remains little studied: elderly people, adolescents, people with autism or those with a neurodevelopmental disorder, young widows..
Others rely on non-drug approaches — art therapy, dance-movement therapy, musical mediation, cardiac coherence, stimulation of the vagus nerve — to jointly soothe the body and mind.
Supported by university hospitals, associations and university teams from all over France (Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Poitiers, Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen, Montpellier, Amiens, Armentières, Chambéry), these 14 projects illustrate the diversity of possible responses to the same observation: pain and psychological suffering aggravate each other, and
care providers must learn to deal with them together.
The 14 winning projects
Pain and psychological vulnerabilities in the elderly: randomized pilot study of Transcutaneous Auricular Stimulation of the Vagus Nerve (sTNV) — GHU AP-HP Center – Paris Cité University, Broca Hospital (Paris) — Clinical research — Leila Djabelkhir, neuropsychologist. This pilot study will test, in people aged 60 and over suffering from chronic pain, the benefit of gentle electrical stimulation applied to the ear to relieve pain and improve psychological well-being.
Management of post-traumatic stress disorder by reconsolidation therapy using propranolol and impact on fibromyalgia syndrome — Henri Laborit Hospital Center (Poitiers) — Clinical research — Dr Ghina Harika- Germaneau, psychiatrist. This project evaluates whether a therapy combining a well-known cardiological drug with guided replay of a traumatic memory can relieve patients suffering from both fibromyalgia and post-traumatic stress.
Epigenetic signatures of pain as biomarkers of suicidal vulnerability in mood disorders (DOCS-METHYL) — Montpellier University Hospital — Research — Professor Émilie Olie. By analyzing the DNA of patients hospitalized for depression, this research seeks biological markers capable of identifying people most vulnerable to suicide risk based on their sensitivity to pain.
Depression and migraine trajectory in bipolar disorder: cohort study with digital monitoring — CLU de Clermont-Ferrand — Research — Pr Ludovic Samalinpsychiatrist. Using a smartphone application updated each week, this study jointly monitors the mood and migraines of bipolar patients to better understand how these two disorders influence each other.
SOMA-PAIN: Study of Atypical Body Experiences associated with chronic pain — University of Rouen Normandy — Research in human and social sciences — Josselin Baumard, teacher-researcher in neuropsychology. This project gives chronic pain patients a voice about their atypical bodily experiences — such as the sensation that a limb no longer belongs to them — in order to build a questionnaire useful to clinicians.
Drépa-Trauma: post-traumatic stress as a pain amplification factor in sickle cell anemia. Multicenter study — Paris Nanterre University — Research — Marie-Claire Gay, professor of clinical psychology. By interviewing 350 sickle cell patients in several hospital centers, this study seeks to demonstrate how post-traumatic stress linked to painful crises amplifies pain, to better guide treatments and fight against the stigmatization of these patients.
Early widowhood: a risk factor for somatic and painful complications — identification and prevention — CURAPP-ESS, University of Picardie Jules Verne — Research in human and social sciences — Nathalie Le Bouteillec, professor of demography. This qualitative investigation explores the physical and painful consequences of bereavement in people under 55 who have lost their partner, a subject that is still little studied by research.
SYNAPSE: Synergy of Multidisciplinary Approaches for Complex Evaluation Situations — Center Léon Bérard (Lyon) — Research — Dr Olivier Renard. This study describes the journeys of cancer patients cared for by a day hospital bringing together addictologist, algologist and psychiatrist, to better respond to situations where pain, addiction and psychological distress intertwine.
Understanding the suicide risk of people with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (RISEDh) — Institute of Psychology, Paris Cité University — Research — Carolina Baeza-Velasco. This study measures the frequency of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in people with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a painful genetic disease that is still insufficiently recognized.
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and chronic pain —Improvement of the care pathway and research project ACT-TND — Métropole Savoie Hospital Center, Reine Hortense Hospital (Chambéry) — Pilot project
— Dr Florence Van de Velde, pain medicine. This project trains healthcare teams and tests group therapy adapted to better support patients with neurodevelopmental disorders (autism, ADHD) faced with chronic pain.
Help with self-management of anxiety in chronic pain patients— Armentières Hospital Center, Multipurpose Chronic Pain Structure — Pilot project — Valérie Gournay-Wavreille. This workshop combines controlled breathing (cardiac coherence) and aromatherapy to help anxious chronic pain patients better manage their anxiety on a daily basis.
ANTICIP’DOULEUR — Mobile pain and habituation team to care for people with autism or intellectual disability — Rhône-Alpes Autism Resource Center — Pilot project — Fleuriane Almodovar, nurse, access to care project manager. This mobile team will meet people with autism or an intellectual disability to prepare care in advance and prevent it from becoming traumatic experiences.
Dancing the invisible, painting the unspeakable — Chronic pain consultation, Joseph Ducuing Hospital (Toulouse) — Pilot project — Quitterie Bloch, pain resource nurse. Art therapy and dance-movement therapy workshops will offer chronic pain patients the opportunity to reconnect with their body in ways other than through pain.
Pilot project of musical and sensory mediation for the alleviation of pain and psychological suffering — Association Pôle art & handicap du Tison / Center Hospitalier Henri Laborit (Poitiers) — Pilot project — Cindy Clech. Weekly musical and sensory mediation sessions will offer mental health patients a time to calm the body and mind.
(1) Rare connective tissue abnormality of hereditary origin characterized by hyperextensibility of the skin, large atrophic scars and generalized joint hypermobility.
Créée en 2004 et reconnue d’utilité publique, la Fondation APICIL agit pour soulager la douleur physique et psychique. Elle accompagne des projets innovants à fort impact médical. Son action repose sur trois axes : financer la recherche, améliorer les soins, informer et sensibiliser.
À travers les projets accompagnés et les nombreux partenariats construits avec les acteurs de la société civile (associations, soignants, patients, sociétés savantes, institutions), la Fondation APICIL s’engage pour faire reconnaitre la nécessaire prise en charge de la douleur comme une priorité de santé publique.
Fidèle à ses valeurs d’humanité et d’innovation, elle a soutenu plus de 1 100 projets en France, représentant un engagement de 14,5 millions d’euros.
