FEATURES OF CATEGORIZATION OF BODILY SENSATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISEASE IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study in the features of the bodily sensations categorization associated with the disease in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis of varying degrees of disability. Using the psychosemantic technique “Choice of descriptors of intraceptive sensations” by A.Sh. Tkhostov, the peculiarities of verbalization, interpretation and categorization of intraceptive (internal bodily) sensations used by patients to describe their complaints were revealed. The sample consisted of 76 patients with multiple sclerosis, aged from 21 to 60 years (µ = 35.3, σ = 8,6), the duration of the disease from 1 to 33 years (µ = 4,4, σ = 5). Methods of descriptive statistics, frequency analysis and the nonparametric Kraskel-Wallis criterion were used to compare groups of patients with different disability rating (according to EDSS). There were no differences in the volumes of descriptor dictionaries used to describe the bodily experience of the disease in patients with different duration of the disease, since multiple sclerosis does not have a linear development and each patient goes through his own unique path in the process of nosognosy. Statistically significant differences were found in the volumes of dictionaries of intraceptive sensations (associated with the disease, dangerous and often experienced) in patients with varying degrees of disability rating (according to EDSS). It is shown that the most extensive dictionaries of intraceptive sensations associated with the disease are in patients with average disability rating. That group has already had some adaptation to the fact of the disease, but due to the diversity of its manifestations and the unpredictability of their appearance, patients tend to attribute any bodily sensations to the disease. In more severe patients, there is a reduction of dictionaries describing the bodily experience of the disease. The most commonly used words in all groups of patients are those describing feelings of loss of tone, strength and sensitivity. Taking into account the peculiarities of nosognosia is necessary when building psychoprophylactic programs with patients suffering from multiple sclerosis