Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T20:59:44.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Depression in Patients with Parkinsonism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ashley H. Robins
Ashley H. Robins*
Affiliation:
Medical Centre, Heerengracht, Cape Town, South Africa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Forty-five patients with parkinsonism were carefully matched for age and sex with 45 chronically disabled control patients with a significantly more severe grade of physical handicap. Depression was measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale, and it was found that the parkinsonian group was very significantly more depressed than the control group (p < 0.0001). Depression scores in both groups were unaffected by the patient's sex or by the severity of the disability. Analysis of the individual ratings of the Hamilton Scale showed that parkinsonian patients had significantly higher scores on items relating to suicide, work and interests, retardation, psychic anxiety, general somatic symptoms, and loss of insight. It was concluded that patients with parkinsonism suffer a degree of depression which cannot be solely a reaction to the stress of physical disability. This finding is discussed with reference to the monoamine hypothesis of depressive illness.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 128 , Issue 2 , February 1976 , pp. 141 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Celesia, G. G. & Wanamaker, W. M. (1972) Psychiatric disturbances in Parkinson's disease. Diseases of the Nervous System, 33, 577–83.Google ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1960) A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 23, 56–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hays, P., Krikler, B., Walsh, L. S. & Woolfson, G. (1966) Psychological changes following surgical treatment of Parkinsonism. American Journal of Psychiatry, 123, 657–63.Google Scholar
Horn, S. (1974) Some psychological factors in Parkinsonism. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 37, 27–31.Google Scholar
Hornykiewicz, O. (1966) Dopamine (3-hydroxytyramine) and brain function. Pharmacological Reviews, 18, 925–64.Google Scholar
Marsh, G. G. & Markham, C. H. (1973) Does levodopa alter depression and psychopathology in Parkinsonism patients? Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 36, 925–35.Google Scholar
Mindham, R. H. S. (1970) Psychiatric symptoms in Parkinsonism. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 33, 188–91.Google Scholar
Mindham, R. H. S. (1974) Psychiatric aspects of Parkinson's disease. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 11, 411–14.Google Scholar
Schildkraut, J. J. (1973) Neuropharmacology of the affective disorders. Annual Review of Pharmacology, 13, 427–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smythies, J. R. (1967) The previous personality in Parkinsonism. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 169–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warburton, J. W. (1967) Depressive symptoms in Parkinson patients referred for thalamotomy. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 30, 368–70.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.