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Introduction/Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated demyelinating disease. It is the main cause of disability in young adults, immediately after traumatic injuries. A broad range of symptoms, in addition to the characteristic autonomic, visual, sensory, and motor problems associated with central nervous system damage, also includes psychiatric illnesses. The most common are depression, panic attacks, bipolar disorder as well as a social anxiety disorder (SAD.) SAD is a mental and behavioral disorder that encompasses the feeling of discomfort and anxiety in social situations and fear of negative assessment by society, accompanied by somatic symptoms such as palpitations, blushing, nausea, and sweating. The disorder consequently leads to separation from the social environment and decreased quality of life. The aim of this review is to consider the association between multiple sclerosis and social anxiety disorder. Participants, Materials/Methods: To find relevant literature, the Pubmed database was searched using the following keywords „multiple sclerosis“ and „social anxiety disorder.“ Results: From the available data, one- third of patients with multiple sclerosis suffer from symptoms of social anxiety. This is statistically significant in comparison to the general population in which the prevalence of SAD is about 2-10%. There are no clinically significant differences depending on age, gender, socioeconomic status, or the duration of clinical manifestation of MS. However, according to several studies, symptoms are more pronounced in patients with a mild form of the disease, who are still being treated on an outpatient basis but have difficulty walking. Also, a more severe form of SAD is associated with other specific neurological symptoms such as tremor, dysarthria, and incontinence, which may be due to the unpredictability of symptoms and possible occurrence in social situations. In addition, patients in the more severe stages of MS have already learned to deal with the disease and accept its consequences, so they are not brought into social situations where symptoms appear. The lack of correlation between neurologic disability in MS and SAD might be considered an unexpected finding. Conclusions: Symptoms of social anxiety may have a great impact on quality of life, so it is important to raise awareness about this disorder among patients, but also healthcare workers. Patients with MS require continuous psychological support and care. |
