Stressful life events, anxiety, depression and coping mechanisms in patients with Behçet's disease

Behçet's disease is a systemic immunoinflammatory disease of young adults characterized by systemic vasculitis of arteries and veins. Although many studies have been published since its discovery in 1937, the etiopathogenesis of this unique disorder is still unclear.

To assess the relationship between stress factors, psychological and somatic symptoms, and coping mechanisms in patients with Behcet's disease.

Thirty-four patients with Behcet's disease and 43 control subjects were compared by using sociodemographic data collection forms, a psychosocial and environmental problems list, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).

Twenty-four patients (70.6%) defined stress factors in the first stage of the disease. Twenty-seven (79.4%) out of 34 patients stated that the recurrence period of the disease was related to the stress factors. Fear was expressed by 10 (29.4%) patients, sadness by 11 (32.3%), and fear plus sadness by 13 (38.2%) when they first learnt the diagnosis. While coping with these emotions 14 (41.2%) revealed active-reliance strategy. A statistically significant difference was present between the Behcet's patients and control subjects regarding TAS (P < 0.05), HAM-D (P < 0.001) and BAI (P < 0.001) scores.

It seems that stressful life events have important implications in both relapsing and remission periods of Behçet's disease via secondary problems.