Multiple sclerosis and psychiatric disturbances: clinical aspects and a review of the literature.

Psychiatric disturbances during the course of multiple sclerosis (MS) may derive from the particular emotional situation induced by a more or less manifest awareness of the disease, or be directly attributable to the pathological process itself. In this latter case, the range of clinical manifestations is somewhat characteristic, as there is often a concomitant impairment of the superior nervous functions, particularly those relating to memory and attention. Interpretation of the role played by affective disorders is particularly controversial, as it is not possible to establish with precision (and the result would in any case be a simplistic interpretation of the problem) a direct relationship between the sites of cerebral lesions and the psychiatric manifestations observed in MS.