Rheumatoid Arthritis Research Paper

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Pages: 2

Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious autoimmune disorder, and is quite common amongst Americans today. It is said to affect over 2 million people in the U.S. (Friendman & Booth-Kewley). Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and often debilitating inflammatory disorder of the joints, causing immense pain and disability in those who are afflicted with it. For quite some time now, it has been hypothesized that psychological factors may play a major role in the development of arthritis; with the majority of the research being conducted specifically on rheumatoid arthritis. This belief has been backed up time and time again, and it is currently known that numerous psychological traits are present more often than not in those who have the disease (Anderson, …show more content…
Across the world, several studies have been successful in finding a number of personality traits that are found in a large majority of rheumatoid arthritic patients, and occur at a much higher significance than those without the disease who are otherwise healthy. A variety of studies described RA patients as depressed, dependent, conscientious, and perfectionistic. It has been noted that these patients are restricted in their emotional expression and are especially unable, (as well as unwilling), to express feelings of anger. This inhibition of emotion, particularly of anger and hostility, is a major trait that has been found consistently. Depression is also one of the most common traits found in those with rheumatoid arthritis (Anderson et al). Other personality traits that have been commonly found among patients with rheumatoid arthritis are the presence of more compliant/subservient behavior, nervousness and restlessness, conservatism, and sensitivity- specifically to anger- in comparison to control subjects. They are also apparently strongly prone to deny