Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T11:07:33.645Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Epilepsy and Psychiatric Disturbance

A Cross-sectional Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Ebe Fiordelli
Affiliation:
Centro Regionale per l'Epilessia and Clinica Neurologica, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza (Milan), and Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan
Ettore Beghi*
Affiliation:
Centro Regionale per l'Epilessia and Clinica Neurologica, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza (Milan), and Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan
Graziella Bogliun
Affiliation:
Centro Regionale per l'Epilessia and Clinica Neurologica, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza (Milan), and Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan
Vittorio Crespi
Affiliation:
Centro Regionale per l'Epilessia and Clinica Neurologica, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza
*
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Eritrea 62, 20157 Milan, Italy

Abstract

One hundred patients with cryptogenic epilepsy and normal intelligence and 100 age- and sex-matched controls were submitted to psychiatric interview using the Clinical Interview Schedule. Nineteen patients and 15 controls were identified as having psychiatric disorders. Anxiety and depression were the predominating diagnoses in both groups. Personality disorders were occasionally present in subjects with epilepsy. The study shows that patients with cryptogenic epilepsy and normal neuropsychological abilities should not be considered at any higher risk of psychiatric disturbance than a non-neurological patient population.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

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

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM-III-R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Bear, D. M. & Fedio, P. (1977) Quantitative analysis of interictal behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy. Archives of Neurology, 34, 454467.Google Scholar
Dodrill, C. B. (1984) Number of seizure types in relation to emotional and psychosocial adjustment in epilepsy. In Advances in Epileptology: XVth Epilepsy International Symposium (eds Porter, R. J., Ward, A. A. Jr, Mattson, R. H., et al), pp. 541544. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Dodrill, C. B. & Batzel, L. W. (1986) Interictal behavioral features of patients with epilepsy. Epilepsia, 27 (suppl. 2), S64S76.Google Scholar
Edeh, J. & Toone, B. K. (1985) Antiepileptic therapy, folate deficiency, and psychiatry morbidity: a general practice survey. Epilepsia, 26, 434440.Google Scholar
Edeh, J. & Toone, B. K. (1987) Relationship between interictal psychopathology and the type of epilepsy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 95101.Google Scholar
Fontanesi, F., Gobetti, C., Zimmermann-Tansella, C., et al (1985) Validation of the Italian version of the GHQ in a general practice setting. Psychological Medicine, 15, 411415.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P., Cooper, B., Eastwood, M. R., et al (1970) A standardized psychiatric interview for use in community surveys. British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, 24, 1823.Google ScholarPubMed
Harding, T. W., de Arango, M. V., Baltazar, J., et al (1980) Mental disorders in primary health care: a study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries. Psychological Medicine, 10, 231241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hermann, B. P., Dikmen, S. & Wilensky, A. J. (1982) Increased psychopathology associated with multiple seizure types: fact or artifact? Epilepsia, 23, 587596.Google Scholar
Kogeorgos, J., Fonagy, P. & Scott, D. F. (1982) Psychiatric symptom patterns of chronic epileptics attending a neurological clinic: a controlled investigation. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 236243.Google Scholar
Mantel, N. & Haenszel, H. (1959) Statistical aspects of the analysis of data from retrospective studies of disease. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 22, 719748.Google Scholar
Mari, J. J. & Williams, P. (1984) Minor psychiatric disorder in primary care in Brazil: a pilot study. Psychological Medicine, 14, 223227.Google Scholar
Matthews, C. G. & Klove, H. (1968) MMPI performances in major motor, psychomotor and mixed seizure classifications of known and unknown etiology. Epilepsia, 9, 4353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meador, K. J., Loring, D. H., Huh, K., et al (1990) Comparative cognitive effects of anticonvulsants. Neurology, 40, 391394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mendez, M. F. (1989) Psychopathology in epilepsy: prevalence, phenomenology and management. International Journal of Psychiatry, 18, 193210.Google Scholar
Mendez, M. F., Cummings, J. L. & Benson, D. F. (1986) Depression in epilepsy. Archives of Neurology, 43, 766770.Google Scholar
Regier, D. A., Boyd, J. H., Burke, J. D. Jr, et al (1988) One-month prevalence of mental disorders in the United States. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 977986.Google Scholar
Reynolds, E. H. (1983) Mental effects of antiepileptic medications: a review. Epilepsia, 24 (suppl. 2), S85S95.Google Scholar
Robertson, M. M. (1989) The organic contribution to depressive illness in patients with epilepsy. Journal of Epilepsy, 2, 189230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, M. M., Trimble, M. R. & Townsend, H. R. A. (1987) Phenomenology of depression in epilepsy. Epilepsia, 28, 364372.Google Scholar
Rodin, E. A., Katz, M. & Lennox, K. (1976) Differences between patients with temporal lobe seizures and those with other forms of epileptic attacks. Epilepsia, 17, 313320.Google Scholar
Spielberger, C. D. (1966) Theory and research on anxiety. In Anxiety and Behavior (ed. Spielberger, C. D.). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Spielberger, C. D. (1972a) Anxiety as an emotional state. In Anxiety: Current Trends in Theory and Research, Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Spielberger, C. D. (1972b) Conceptual and methodological issues in anxiety research. In Anxiety: Current Trends in Theory and Research, Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
SPSS (1986) SPSS X User's Guide (2nd edn). Chicago: SPSS Inc.Google Scholar
Trostle, J. A., Hauser, W. A. & Sharbrough, F. W. (1989) Psychologic and social adjustment to epilepsy in Rochester, Minnesota. Neurology, 39, 633637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitman, S., Hermann, B. P. & Gordon, A. C. (1984) Psychopathology in epilepsy: how great is the risk? Biological Psychiatry, 19, 213236.Google Scholar
Wolf, S. M. & Forsythe, A. (1978) Behavior disturbance, phenobarbital, and febrile seizures. Pediatrics, 61, 728731.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981) WAIS-R Manual. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.