Psychiatric Morbidity and Social Problems in Patients with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

A two-stage screening strategy was used to study psychiatric morbidity and social problems in a consecutive series of out-patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 18%, and consisted of depression, anxiety, and attendant symptoms. Patients reporting major social problems had significantly higher levels of psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatric morbidity was not associated with the presence of complications of diabetes.

Psychiatric Aspects of Diabetes Mellitus

“…However, Bridges and Goldberg [17] reported a 39% rate in patients with neurological disorders and Surridge et al [5] reported varying figures (e.g., 60%) for patients who complained of fatigability and energy loss. It is difficult to attribute the high incidence of psychiatric morbidity in the present study to the degree of illness, because the mean age of our patients and the duration of DM were even less than that described in other studies [5,7]. There was also no positive correlation between the high morbidity and the number of hypoglycemic comas.…”

“…The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in our diabetic patients is relatively high (44.7%), compared with, for example, the 18% reported by Wilkinson et al [7] and 11% for males and 26% for females cited by Hobbs et al [15]. Maguire et al [16] reported a 23% rate in a study of patients on general medical wards.…”

“…Surridge et al [5] reported a 16% incidence of poor recent memory and difficulties in concentration, but Lawson et al [6] failed to provide evidence of impaired intellectual functioning in a group of diabetic patients, in a controlled study using standardized scales. Intellectual impairment was also described as minimal in the study by Wilkinson et al [7].…”

“…Although different tools were used in these studies, clinical psychiatric assessment was a common denominator. Most studies, however, agree that psychiatric morbidity is not related to the duration of the illness, age at diagnosis, or the presence of complications of diabetes [6,7].…”

“…1990; 10(6): 629-632 In the past, diabetes mellitus (DM) was considered a psychosomatic illness caused by emotional stress [1,2]. In the "diabetic personality" [2], anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction, and cognitive deficits are among the most common psychiatric aspects [3][4][5][6][7]. Disturbed family background has also been associated with DM; high anxiety levels in the mothers of diabetic children [8], overprotectiveness, rigidity, and family discord [9,10] have also been reported.…”