Abstract
Aim: To study emotional disorders and response to stress in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the diagnostic stage. Design: Comparative prospective study. Materials and methods. We examined 30 MS patients who were not taking any disease-modifying drugs. The age of patients was 34 ± 9 years; Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale: 1.7 ± 1.3 points. Beck Self-Rating Depression Inventory and V. M. Bekhterev Self-Rating Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Asthenic State Scale, Psychological Diagnostics of Coping Mechanisms, Coping Strategies questionnaire, were used. Results. MS patients were divided into groups depending on the presence/absence of symptoms of depression (n = 18 and n = 12). The patients with depression had statistically higher (р < 0.05) number of asthenic manifestations and anxiety disorders, emotional releases with fixation on negative events. In order to reduce stress, patients chose to avoid the problem. Conclusion. Identified emotional disorders aggravate the overall condition of MS patients, reduce stress tolerance and ability to social adaptation; they lead to more complex symptoms and possible disease progression. Keywords: multiple sclerosis, depression, anxiety, copin mechanisms, ways of coping with stress.
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