Darren J Edwards and Craig Toutt published a promising prospective observational cohort study in Health Psychology Open in 2018. The comorbidity between mental health conditions and chronic pain led the researchers to investigate the impact of osteopathic manipulative treatment (2-week period) upon psychological outcome measures in a chronic pain sample (n=58) using six questionnaires. The study demonstrated that osteopathy reduces pain, anxiety, and psychiatric disorders, while it was not effective at reducing fear avoidance and depression. However, the authors warrant further investigations within full-scale randomized controlled trials. Emphasizing the holistic nature of osteopathy, this study might inspire future research addressing osteopathy and mental health.
Edwards, d.J., Toutt, C., 2018. An evaluation of osteopathic treatment on psychological outcomes with patients suffering from chronic pain: A prospective observational cohort study collected through a health and well-being academy. Health Psychology Open, 5(1), 2055102918774684.