Coping Strategies Important in Mood of Multiple Sclerosis Patients

A new study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry found that symptoms of depression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are likely to change over the course of the disease. The researchers used the Beck Depression Inventory and the Chicago Multiscale Depression Inventory (CMDI) to examine 53 MS patients twice with 3 years between measurements. The probands’ symptoms remained stable save for one notable exception: Over 40% of patients showed reliable change on the CMDI moodscale. The authors determined that application of coping skills was the salient difference between those patients whose mood improved and those whose mood did not. http://jnnp.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/77/5/606