Correlates of psychiatric and psychological distress in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is the second most commonly diagnosed neurodegenerative disorder worldwide and the physical manifestations of the disease are well documented in the literature. However, in excess of 60% of patients with the disease report having one or more psychiatric symptoms which worsen as the disease progresses. These symptoms arise differentially from the same pathology which underlies the disease or from the treatment with dopaminergic drugs. Psychiatric and psychological difficulties tend to be under-recognised and undertreated yet cause great disability, significantly impact the quality of life of patients and add to greater burden on their caregivers. These symptoms can be relieved through adjusting the doses of anti-Parkinson’s drug therapy and success in improving psychological distress has been found using adjuvant psychotherapeutic intervention, most notably with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.