Chest pain and anguish in depressive and anxious patients and its importance to the psychopathology

Resumo

Recently, many patients with depression and anxiety disorders have reported experiencing chest tightness and anguish. This research aimed to investigate diferences between patients with and without anguish in terms of symptomatology and comorbidities and to find out whether patients with depression and with anxiety have more anguish than patients who do not have depression and anxiety. The sample included 100 patients, 69% being female and 29% being male. Anguish is more associated with depression than anxiety, being more frequent in females, and that the most frequent comorbidities among patients with anguish are somatization, fears, depressive mood, gastrointestinal and neurovegetative symptoms. The variables with most relationships with anguish were gender, reduced HAM-A score, BSI somatization, BSI hostility, BSI obsession compulsion, age and MINI depression. Anguish is more near to Depression than to anxiety.