DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS ARE NOT INFLUENCED BY SEVERITY OF MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

Despite agreement that depression is the most common neuropsychiatric symptom associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), many aspects of this emotional change are unclear. One of the more controversial issues con cerns the relationship between severity of MS and depression. This rel ationship is used to evaluate whether depression is an integral or rea ctive symptom of MS. Examination of this relationship is complicated b y the presumed overlap between somatic features of depressive and neur ological symptoms in MS. In order to clarify this situation, we examin ed the relationship between severity of MS and four categories of depr essive symptoms. Results indicated that three of the categories (mood, self-reproach, somatic features) were elevated in patients with MS, b ut the extent of these elevations were not related to severity of dise ase. These results suggest that depression in MS is not a simple react ion to physical disability.