It could a patho-genetic influence of distress which could be responsible, to some to trigger Graves disease

Not in English nor German :) here is some (not mine) Polish research on psychological stress related factors with English abstract below, and link to publishers website:

http://www.termedia.pl/Czasopismo/Neuropsychiatria_i_Neuropsychologia-46/Streszczenie-11018

Wybrane zmienne psychologiczne u pacjentów z reumatoidalnym zapaleniem stawów i chorobą Gravesa-Basedowa

[Selected psychological variables in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and Graves-Basedow disease]

Agnieszka Wlazło, Jacek Kleszczyński, Grażyna Dolińska-Zygmunt, Jerzy Leszek

Neuropsychiatria i Neuropsychologia 2008; 3, 2: 71-79

Psychological factors through their impact on assessment of difficult life situations and model of coping with stress can provoke pathophysiological reactions triggering development of autoimmunological disorders. In the paper we tried to distinguish psychological variables typical for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and Graves-Basedow disease. Three groups were investigated (n=90) and divided according to age and sex: patients with rheumatoid arthritis, patients with Graves-Basedow disease and healthy people with positive family history of autoimmunological disorders. The following tests were used: Life Orientation Test (LOT-R); Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOC-29); Formal Characteristics of Behaviour: Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI); Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised (EPQ-R). We found statistically significant differences between patients and the control group due to the following variables: optimism, meaningfulness, activity, briskness, and endurance (they were statistically lower in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and Graves-Basedow disease), emotional reactivity and neuroticism (statistically higher in both groups of patients). Also, small differences between ill and healthy people were observed due to manageability, comprehensibility (statistically lower in both groups of patients) and perseveration (statistically higher in both groups of patients). There were no differences in these variables between both groups and patients. The results seem to support the hypothesis about the role of specific psychological factors for patients with autoimmunological disorders. However, taking into consideration the multifactor aetiopathogenesis of these disorders, our results should be verified in future investigations.

Dear Jerzy,

thank you very much for this interesting reference. The problem of this cross sectional study with different psychological questionnaires seems, that the results could be biased by the consequences of the two autoimmune diseases.

Dear Ulrich

Yes, indeed. Maybe large prospective study similar to Scandinavian cohorts may help, I am not aware of anything like that in Polish language and area.