Anxiety Associated with Kidney Transplantation

Abstract

Anxiety associated with kidney transplantation was examined in a sample of 16 recipients. The incidence of anxiety amounted to 68.8% (11/16 cases) and 81.3% (13/16 cases) within the pre- and postoperation periods, respectively. One case indicated severe anxiety and finally developed dysthymic disorder after transplantation. Another case showed alexithymic features, which were associated with poor self-control, and strong defense mechanisms such as denial before transplantation. Although it is important for liaison psychiatrists to cure psychiatric disturbances such as depression, psychological care for alexithymic features may be required for organ transplantations to proceed smoothly. Consequently, it is necessary to reconsider psychodynamic aspects, especially anxiety concerning organ transplantations.

Alexithymic Characteristics in Responses to the Synthetic House-Tree-Person (Htp) Drawing Test

“…Our prior studies have shown that alexithymic persons have poor social supports with significant others such as family and friends or have a poor -social network (9) suggesting that poor social supports of alexithymic persons may be associated with the difficulty in communicating with others, closely related to a marked difficulty in identhing and describing emotions. The first finding of a poor relationship among the persons, projected on the Synthetic House-Tree-Person Drawing Test, may be associated with an alexithymia-related characteristic, which suggests ddficulty in communicating with others.…”