Psychosomatic factors in patients with hyperprolactinemia and/or galactorrhea

A biographic and clinical investigation of 101 patients with hyperprolactinemia and/or galactorrhea is reported. Fifty-one patients were reared without their fathers and 18 with an alcoholic, violent one. These situations were uncommon in the control population, and the differences were statistically significant. There was a high frequency of complaints of obesity, headaches, frigidity, lightheadedness, and fullness of the abdomen, limbs, or face. There was a significant temporal correlation of external events in the natural history with onset or worsening of the symptoms. It is concluded that exposure during childhood to an environment characterized by an absent or alcoholic, violent father conditions some women to develop hyperprolactinemia and/or galactorrhea later in life as a response to specific environmental changes. These conclusions apply similarly to patients with prolactinoma, idiopathic hyperprolactinemia, and euprolactinemic galactorrhea, suggesting a close relationship among the 3 entities.