Depression and anxiety in dissociative (conversion) disorder patients at a tertiary care psychiatric facility

Objective To estimate the frequency of depression and anxiety in dissociative (conversion disorder) patients reporting at a tertiary care Psychiatric facility of Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi. Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Psychiatry of a tertiary care facility, Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi. 100 consecutive patients between ages of 13-60 years, diagnosed as conversion disorder from December 2009 to May 2010 were included in the study. The diagnosis was based on 1CD-10 (International classification of mental disorders, 10th edition) criteria. All underwent detailed assessments which included physical examination, ICD-10 diagnostic criteria of conversion disorder, demographic profile assessment, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). The data were analyzed using SPSS package version 10. Results Majority of patients were young, female, formally educated, rural residents, unmarried, unemployed, having no family history of mental illness and presented via out-patients department. Dissociative convulsions (63%) were the most common presentation followed by dissociative motor disorder (24%), mixed dissociative disorder (8%), dissociative anesthesia and sensory symptoms (4%) and trance and possession disorder (1%). HAD scale analysis revealed that both anxiety and depression scores were clinically significant in majority of patients. Conclusion Our study showed substantially high rates of depression (61%) and anxiety (60%) in Conversion Disorder patients. Further research involving larger sample size and longitudinal follow up is required to elucidate possible perspective.