Psychological aspects of functional hypothalamic amenorrhea in adolescence

Objective. Our aim is to study psychological aspects of adolescence hypothalamic amenorrhea. We intend to single out eventual specific relationship styles, to improve clinical knowledge over this pathology in adolescence and to value eventual therapeutic or preventive needs. Aim and methods. Our sample: 17 teenagers (14-17 years of age) with hypothalamic amenorrhea diagnosticated by the physicians of gynechological endocrinology Day Hospital. Psychological aspects has been deepened using clinical interviews with patients and their parents. Data underwent descriptive analysis. Results. A particular psychological profile stands out; it's characterized by the presence of depressive traits (59%), subclinical eating disorders (82%) and development of psychosomatic symptoms (41%). Conclusions. Hypothalamic amenorrhea looks like a symptom of a more complex disorder which involve the entire person. Adolescence represents a crucial period of life for the constitution of individual identity; we think that, in association with gynechologic cure, according to our data and recent literature publications, psychological therapy would be necessary to answer patients'with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea real needs.