ABSTRACT
It is well known that patients with a chronic medical illness experience major depression at a higher rate than the general population. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of depression among patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) who were referred to a Muscular Dystrophy Association clinic. Forty-five patients with a diagnosis of MG were evaluated with a self-administered survey regarding various typical somatic and psychologic symptoms of depression (the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]) and then scored according to the BDI guidelines. Thirty-three percent of these patients generated scores suggestive of depression (24% were categorized as mildly depressed, 7% as moderately depressed, and 2% as severely depressed). These results suggest that patients with MG patients experience depression at a higher rate than the general population and at a similar rate as patients with other chronic illnesses.
ABSTRACT
There is growing interest in evaluating the social and emotional effects of stroke, with the aim of improving recovery and outcome. Recent investigations indicate that post-stroke depression and social impairment are cross-cultural consequences that affect between one-third and two-thirds of patients. These conditions appear to be undertreated, even though studies confirm measurable benefits of medical and caregiver education interventions. A further improvement in outcome can be expected from the comprehensive recognition and management of other social and emotional alterations that encompass emotion-related communication disorders, reduced emotional arousal, initiation and expression, and impaired social cognition, empathy and related interpersonal competencies.
