COMPARISON OF PERSONALITY PROFILES OF PATIENTS WITH PSYCHOGENIC NON-EPILEPTIC SEIZURES AND PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED FOR OTHER DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
Journal Title: Acta Neuropsychologica - Year 2008, Vol 6, Issue 3
Abstract
[b]Introduction.[/b] Dissociative disorders cause significant diagnostic problems. Prolonged dysfunction of this type, particularly paresis and dysesthesia, may be related to unresolved personality disorders. The most frequent forms of psychogenic disorders are limb paresis, headaches, backaches and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). The objective of our study was to compare the personality profiles of PNES patients with the profiles of patients hospitalized for other forms of somatization, and to assess the differences in MMPI somatization scores between the two groups of patients.[b]Material and method.[/b] We collected data from 104 patients (85 women, 19 men), including 64 (53/11) with diagnosed or suspected PNES and 40 (32/8) with headaches, dizziness or back pain. Pathological personality patterns were diagnosed with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).[b]Results.[/b] In both groups the values for Hysteria (Hs) and Hypochondria (Hy) were significantly higher than the values for Depression (D). The greatest difference between the two groups was found for Psychasthenia, with mean scores of 56.11 for the PNES patients and 46.15 for patients with other forms of somatization (p≤0.001). Significant differences were also found for Schizophrenia (p≤0.001), Masculinity-Femininity (p≤0.02), Paranoia (p≤ 0.02) and Mania (p≤0.05).[b]Conclusions.[/b] The differences between our PNES patients and patients with other forms of somatization were quite clear, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Although the pattern of the first three scales (the profile) is similar in both groups, the scores on other personality scales are significantly higher in PNES patients. This may suggest that patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are more emotionally high-strung, whereas emotional tension is somewhat reduced in patients with other forms of somatisation.
Authors and Affiliations
Krzysztof Owczarek, Joanna Jędrzejczak, Filip Owczarek
Keywords
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