Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T23:44:05.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychiatric Symptom Patterns of Chronic Epileptics Attending a Neurological Clinic: A Controlled Investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

John Kogeorgos ,
Peter Fonagy  and
D. F. Scott
John Kogeorgos
Affiliation:
Section of Neurological Sciences, The London Hospital, Whitechapel, London E1 1BB
Peter Fonagy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University College, London WC1
D. F. Scott
Affiliation:
EEG Department, The London Hospital
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The psychiatric morbidity of chronic epileptic out-patients unknown to psychiatric agencies was assessed using two questionnaire measures of psychopathology (GHQ and CCEI). Nearly half of the epileptics were classified as probable psychiatric cases. Psychiatric morbidity was both more prevalent and more severe in this group than in a comparison group of chronic neurological out-patients. Depression, anxiety and hysterical symptomatology were the commonest characteristics of psychiatrically impaired epileptics. The type and severity of epilepsy were found to influence both the degree and pattern of psychiatric morbidity. Contrary to previous findings, age of onset had no relation to psychopathology.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 140 , Issue 3 , March 1982 , pp. 236 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

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

Bear, D. M. & Fedio, P. (1977) Quantitative analysis of interictal behaviour in temporal lobe epilepsy. Archives of Neurology, 34, 454–67.Google Scholar
Crisp, A. H., Ralph, P. C., McGuinness, B. & Harris, G. (1978) Psychoneurotic profiles in the adult population. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 51, 293–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crown, S. & Crisp, A. H. (1966) A short clinical diagnostic self-rating scale for psychoneurotic patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 112, 917–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crown, S. (1974) The Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire in clinical research: A review. In Psychological Measurements in Psychopharmacology, (ed. Pichot, P.), pp 111–24. Basel: S. Karger.Google Scholar
Currie, S., Heathfield, K. W. G., Henson, R. A. & Scott, D. F. (1971) Clinical course and prognosis of temporal lobe epilepsy: A survey of 666 cases. Brain, 94, 173–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flor-Henry, P. (1969) Psychosis and temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsia, 10, 363–95.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. (1978) Manual of the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor: NFER Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Gunn, J. & Fenton, G. W. (1971) Epilepsy, automatism and crime. Lancet, i, 1173–6.Google Scholar
Hermann, B. P., Schwartz, M. S., Karnes, W. E. & Vahdat, P. (1980) Psychopathology in epilepsy: Relationship of seizure type to age at onset. Epilepsia, 21, 15–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnstone, A. & Goldberg, D. (1976) Psychiatric screening in general practice: A controlled trial. Lancet, i, 605–8.Google Scholar
Kogeorgos, J., Henson, R. A. & Scott, D. F. (1979) Pattern sensitive epilepsy: a case report. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 42, 635–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kogeorgos, J., Evans, S. & Scott, D. F. (1980a) Methods of quantification applicable to the assessment of progress and prognosis in epilepsy. In Epilepsy 80/1: Perspectives on Epilepsy. Wokingham: British Epilepsy Association.Google Scholar
Kogeorgos, J., Scott, D. F. & Vassilouthis, J. (1980b) Prognosis in epilepsy. Materia Medica Greca, 5, 536–8.Google Scholar
Kogeorgos, J., Scott, D. F. & Swash, M. (1981) Epileptic dizziness. British Medical Journal, 282, 687–9.Google Scholar
Merlis, J. K. (1970) Proposal for an international classification for epilepsy. Epilepsia, 11, 114–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perez, M. M. & Trimble, M. R. (1980) Epileptic psychosis: Diagnostic comparison with process schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 245–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pond, D. A. & Bidwell, B. H. (1960) A survey of epilepsy in fourteen general practices. II: Social and psychological aspects. Epilepsia, 1, 285–99.Google Scholar
Prchal, W. & Smythies, J. R. (1977) Temporal lobe epilepsy presenting as fugue state. Lancet, ii, 1034.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodin, E. A. (1968) The Prognosis of Patients with Epilepsy. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Graham, P. & Yule, W. (1970) A neuropsychiatric study in childhood. Clinics in Departmental Medicine, Nos 35/36. London: S.I.M.P. with Heinemann Medical.Google Scholar
Scott, D. F. (1978) Psychiatric aspects of sexual medicine. British Journal of Sexual Medicine, 5, 17–20.Google Scholar
Scott, D. F. (1979) Psychiatric aspects of epilepsy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 417–30.Google Scholar
Serafetinides, E. A. (1965) Aggressiveness in temporal lobe epilepsy and its relation to cerebral dysfunction and environmental factors. Epilepsia, 6, 33–42.Google Scholar
Slater, E., Beard, A. & Glithero, E. (1963) The schizophrenia-like psychoses in epilepsy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 109, 95–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Standage, K. F. & Fenton, G. W. (1975) Psychiatric symptom profiles of patients with epilepsy: a controlled investigation. Psychological Medicine, 5, 152–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, J. R. (1975) Inter-ictal clinical manifestations of complex partial-seizures. In Advances in Neurology, (eds. Penry, J. K. and Daly, D. D.). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Stores, G. (1978) School children with epilepsy at risk for learning and behaviour problems. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 20, 502–8.Google Scholar
Trimble, M. R. (1981) Neuropsychiatry. Chichester: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Williams, P., Tarnopolsky, A. & Hand, D. (1980) Case definition and case identification in psychiatric epidemiology: Review and assessment. Psychological Medicine, 10, 101–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.