How Much Stigma Can Influence the Development of Depression in Epilepsy

Introduction: Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder of the brain and also the least understood. Fear, misunderstanding and the resulting social stigma surrounding epilepsy can result in social, and sometimes even legal, discrimination against those living with this condition. Although attitudes toward people with epilepsy have improved over the years, for many people with epilepsy, stigma continues to adversely impact their psychological well-being and quality of life. Goal: To determine social and economic characteristics of the patients with epilepsy, presence of depression in comparison to duration of illness and stigmatizing circumstances. Material and methodology: Prospective study included 300 patients with epilepsy treated at the Ambulatory for epilepsies of the Clinical Center of Sarajevo University. Besides standardized questionnaire, all patients were tested using Beck Hamilton depression scales and QOLIE-31 questionnaire. Results: Our sample included 300 patients from both genders, where the male patients was slightly more dominant with the average age of 37.67 years +/- 12.86 compared to female patient which were significantly (p< 0.05) younger with mean age of 32.83 +/- 12.26. For the female patients average age of the first epileptic seizure was at 14.05 years +/- 8.55, and for males 19.53 years +/- 12.39. Significant difference is noted also regarding the marriage and work in favor of men’s, which is important stigmatizing factor for the women with epilepsy. Presence of depression was noticed among 34% of patients at the Beck Depression Scale, and 38.9% at the Hamilton scale with the significant difference in presence of severe depression among women. 14% of patients had suicidal ideas, which requires special attention during the treatment. Conclusion: Epilepsy stigma, recurrent epileptic seizures and early occurrence of epilepsy in life have significant influence on development of depression and quality of life, especially for women.