Dysthymic states and depressive syndromes in physical conditions of presumably psychogenic origin

C. G. Lyketsos, G. C. Lyketsos, S. C. Richardson, A. Beis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT— This paper reports studies of patients with the following disorders: peptic ulcer, hypertension, bronchial asthma, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcerative colitis (UC), urticaria, psoriasis and alopecia. The investigations focused on dysthymic states, measured by Foulds’ Scale of Anxiety and Depression (SAD) and – except for the first three disorders – the Present State Examination (PSE). On the SAD, all the above groups scored significantly higher than somatically ill controls in anxiety, and all except ulcer patients scored significantly higher in depression. The PSE designated more than half of these patients as cases, except in the psoriasis group. Most patients were assigned to the PSE syndromes of anxiety states or neurotic depression, with the former being more common in UC and urticaria, and the latter more common in IBS, alopecia and rheumatoid arthritis. The variation within skin diseases and within gastrointestinal diseases suggests that neurotic symptoms are typical of each disease rather than of the system involved in the disturbance.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)529-534
Number of pages6
JournalActa Psychiatrica Scandinavica
Volume76
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1987
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • anxiety
  • depression
  • dysthymia
  • psychosomatic disorders

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dysthymic states and depressive syndromes in physical conditions of presumably psychogenic origin'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this