Personal and family history of affective illness in patients with multiple sclerosis

There is a high prevalence of affective illness, both depression and bipolar disorder, in patients with multiple sclerosis. In this study, the family history method was used to assess the prevalence of affective illness in first-degree relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis. There was not an excess of affective illness in the relatives suggesting that affective disorder associated with multiple sclerosis does not have a familial pattern similar to primary affective disorder. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.