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An exploration of anger phenomenology in multiple sclerosis
Author(s) -
Nocentini U.,
Tedeschi G.,
Migliaccio R.,
Dinacci D.,
Lavorgna L.,
Bonavita S.,
Bresciamorra V.,
Comanducci G.,
Coniglio G.,
Livrea P.,
Mannu R.,
Orefice G.,
Paciello M.,
Patti F.,
Quattrone A.,
Salemi G.,
Savettieri G.,
Simone I.L.,
Valentino P.,
Zappia M.,
Bonavita V.,
Musicco M.,
Caltagirone C.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2009.02727.x
Subject(s) - anger , clinical psychology , anxiety , population , mood , mood disorders , medicine , state trait anxiety inventory , psychology , psychiatry , trait , environmental health , computer science , programming language
Background and purpose: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are often emotionally disturbed. We investigated anger in these patients in relation to demographic, clinical, and mood characteristics. Patients and methods: About 195 cognitively unimpaired MS patients (150 relapsing–remitting and 45 progressive) were evaluated with the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory, the Chicago Multiscale Depression Inventory, and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. The patients’ anger score distribution was compared with that of the normal Italian population. Correlation coefficients among scale scores were calculated and mean anger scores were compared across different groups of patients by analysis of variance. Results: Of the five different aspects of anger, levels of withheld and controlled Anger were respectively higher and lower than what is expected in the normal population. Although anger was correlated with anxiety and depression, it was largely independent from these mood conditions. Mean anger severity scores were not strongly influenced by individual demographic characteristics and were not higher in more severe patients. Conclusions: The presence of an altered pattern of anger, unrelated to the clinical severity of MS, suggests that anger is not an emotional reaction to disease stress. An alteration of anger mechanisms might be a direct consequence of the demyelination of the connections among the amygdale, the basal ganglia and the medial prefrontal cortex.