DEPRESSIVENESS IN THE RELAPSE-FREE EARLY-STAGE OF MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

Under the hypothesis that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), even in the relapse-free and handicap-free early stage of the disease, show a picture of depressive complaints, we examined 10 young female MS-patients from this early stage and 10 patients with idiopathic epilepsy who had been matched for age, sex, occupational situation and severity of the disease. In the course of consultation, they were presented scales for clinical self-assessment (a scale for depressiveness, a list of complaints and a scale for overall condition). On these scales, the MS-patients partly stated a considerable degree of subjective impairment by momentary and continuing depressiveness, and differed significantly from the epilepsy patient's self-assessment. In accordance with our hypothesis, this finding suggests a distinct depressiveness in the very early and even handicap-free stage of MS.