[Comparative studies of the psychosomatic aspects of liver diseases]

Connections between disturbed functions of liver and mental diseases at all times have been generally supposed as existent and have been discussed in the literature; they should be clarified by means of questionnaire-tests: MPI-test and MMQ-test of Eysenck combined with neurotizism-depression-questionnaire of Hoffmann-La Roche allowed to comprehend the dimensions of personality "neurotizism" and "depressivity". Concerning "neurotizism" statistically significant differences could be found between liver-patients and healthy persons in a tendency to a significant increase among liver-patients, but not between liver-patients with other diseases. The tendency to "depressivity" of healthy persons could be statistically evaluated as being much greater than that of liver-patients; there were no differences between liver-patients and patients with other diseases. That is why liver-patients do not differ psychically from patients suffering from other diseases; they share their reaction to the occurrence of disease - in various degrees until a neurotic lack of active realization of the fact of illness. Liver-diseases apparently are not triggered or caused by special pre-morbid alterations.