Personality Correlates of the Rapidity of Progression of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

It was suggested that particular personality factors may differentiate between rheumatoid arthritic patients whose disease progresses relatively rapidly and those whose disease progresses relatively slowly. Those patients whose disease had progressed most rapidly (shortest duration and greatest severity) and those whose disease had progressed most slowly (longest duration and least severity) were selected from a larger sample and compared on an objective psychological inventory. It is suggested that the patients whose disease was progressing most rapidly were experiencing feelings of ego disorganization with concomitant increase in anxiety and depression and decrease in the ability to continue former modes of psychological adaptation and coping. Data relating progression of disease to personality factors in multiple sclerosis and cancer are reviewed and it is suggested that the process may be regarded as a "vicious circle" in which the high degree of energy involved in ego defensiveness and the rapid progression of the disease mutually enhance and reinforce each other.