Psychocutaneous

There is a strong known link between the mind and the skin, with studies indicating that some individuals who live with skin disorders can exhibit high levels of psychological distress. Historically, the psychological impact of skin conditions has often been disregarded by health professionals, friends, and family members. However, more recently, clinicians are becoming aware of the benefits of combining medical and psychological treatment for these patients. Within the United Kingdom, this is becoming more popular within dermatology due to a recent study that measured clinical utility and cost savings...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Literature reports suggest that up to 30% of dermatology patients have associated psychiatric co-morbidity. A psychodermatology liaison (PD) clinic is essential to deal with such patients, which is almost non-existent in the Indian scenario. In order to report the working pattern of such a clinic and to determine its efficacy with the help of Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction (SAPS) questionnaires, we investigated patients with suspected psychocutaneous diseases in an open-labelled two-year prospective study...

Dermatological disease can be devastating for patients, and although dermatologists are focused on remedying the cutaneous manifestations of these conditions, it is easy to miss the psychological suffering lurking below. Studies reveal that psychiatric comorbidity in dermatology is highly prevalent. Undetected psychopathology can greatly decrease a patient's quality of life and even contribute significantly to the clinical severity of their skin disease. For these reasons, it is vital that practitioners learn to detect psychological distress when it is present, and it is equally essential that they understand the treatment options available for effective intervention...

Objective: Patients with skin diseases often have psychological problems and complications that require assessment and treatment. The main objective of this study was to explore attentiveness of dermatologists to psychiatric symptoms in their patients. Methods: A previously validated online questionnaire was used to explore the attitude and experience of dermatologists practicing in the Middle East toward the assessment of the psychiatric needs of their patients...

Building a strong therapeutic alliance with the patient is of utmost importance in the management of psychocutaneous disease. Optimal management of psychocutaneous disease includes both pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. This article reviews psychotropic medications currently used for psychocutaneous disease, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and anxiolytics, with a discussion of relevant dosing regimens and adverse effects. Pruritus management is addressed. In addition, basic and complex forms of psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and habit-reversal training, are described...

Psychocutaneous disease, defined in this review as primary psychiatric disease with skin manifestations, is commonly encountered in dermatology. Dermatologists can play an important role in the management of psychocutaneous disease because patients visit dermatology for treatment of their skin problems but often refuse psychiatric intervention. This review describes common psychocutaneous syndromes, including delusional, factitious, obsessive-compulsive and related, and eating disorders, as well as psychogenic pruritus, cutaneous sensory (pain) syndromes, posttraumatic stress disorder, and sleep-wake disorders...

Psychodermatology is a relatively new field of medicine. It encompasses the interaction of mind and skin. The role of psychoneuroimmunology in the causation of psychocutaneous disorders and psychosocial aspects of skin disease have gained momentum lately. The treatment of psychodermatological disorders focus on improving function, reducing physical distress, diagnosing and treating depression and anxiety associated with skin disease, managing social isolation and improving self esteem of the patient. Both pharmacological and psychological interventions are used in treating psychocutaneous disorders...

Delusion of parasitosis is a rare condition characterised by an individual harbouring the delusion of being infested with insects or parasites. We report a rare and interesting case of delusion of parasitosis presenting as folie a deux, that is, the delusion is shared by both the parents of an 18-month-old child, with proxy projection of parental delusion on the child. The case highlights the rare concomitant occurrence of two psychocutaneous disorders and emphasizes the importance of early recognition and appropriate intervention to safeguard the well-being of the child...

BACKGROUND: Physical and mental comorbidity is common and has significant implications for overall health outcomes. Psoriasis, a psychocutaneous disorder, is a classic example of mental-physical comorbidity. AIMS: In view of the impact of socio-cultural influences on mind-body interactions and the paucity of Indian research pertaining to psychiatric morbidity in psoriatic patients, this study was undertaken to measure the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with psoriasis, and to correlate these with severity of psoriasis and quality of life...

OBJECTIVE: Approximately, 1 in 3 patients in dermatology settings has psychiatric comorbidity. Thus, we conducted a survey in Turkey to explore the awareness, knowledge, practicing patterns, and attitudes of dermatologists toward psychocutaneous disorders. METHOD: The questionnaire-based study was performed from March 1, 2013, to May 20, 2013. Study participants included 115 dermatologists. The questionnaire consisted of 9 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-ended questions...

Patients with skin picking disorders (SPDs) have historically been an under recognized and under treated group. Originally classified an impulse control disorder, skin picking disorder is now considered under the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive-related disorder (OCRD) spectrum. Workup of SPD concentrates on differentiating this condition from primary skin disorders, systemic conditions associated with pruritus, and psychocutaneous syndromes. It is important to first address any underlying pruritic disorders (if present) that may be a trigger to pick the skin...

Psychodermatology is an underappreciated field that studies psychocutaneous disorders, which are conditions that have both dermatologic and psychiatric characteristics. Underlying psychiatric comorbidity is estimated to occur in up to one-third of dermatologic patients, and psychiatric illness may either be the cause or the consequence of dermatologic disease. Psychodermatologic patients lack insight and often do not recognize a psychiatric etiology for their symptoms and therefore comprise some of the most challenging cases to treat...

The precise cause of lichen planus is unknown, but the disease seems to be immunologically mediated. It is a psychocutaneous disorder. Due to scarcity of Indian studies in this field, we decided to study in patients of lichen planus the prevalence of depression and quality of life with comparison of the same in both the genders. Patients diagnosed as having lichen planus by consultant dermatologist were enrolled after informed consent and ethics approval. 45 patients were screened, of which 35 who satisfied the criteria were taken up for the study...

The prevalence of psychosomatic disorders among dermatological patients is high but frequently unreported because of difficulties in diagnosing and treating this patient group. Psychiatric and psychological factors may play different roles in the pathogenic mechanism of some skin diseases. The mainstay of diagnosis and treatment is the differentiation between skin disorders associated with psychiatric illness and those of a purely psychiatric nature. Dermatologists and psychiatrists should be aware of this pathology and work together as a team to resolve difficult cases, especially in children...

Delusions of parasitosis (DoP) is a psychocutaneous condition characterized by a fixed false belief that one is infested by skin parasites. Patients afflicted with DoP generally experience sensations of biting, stinging or crawling in the absence of any objective evidence of infestation. The most definitive treatment for DoP is antipsychotic agents. Though the diagnosis and treatment options are rather straightforward, the difficulty lies in the art of building a therapeutic rapport with the patient in order to encourage acceptance of antipsychotic treatment...

Trichotillomania (TTM) is an impulse control disorder characterized by repetitive behavior of hair pulling resulting in secondary alopecia. It is among the psychocutaneous diseases known to be associated with psychiatric comorbidity, social, and functional impairment. Although most of the time, an experienced dermatologist easily recognizes the key features of TTM, a history and physical examination alone might not be enough to make a definitive diagnosis. As an effective noninvasive technique for the evaluation of scalp and hair diseases, trichoscopy also has proven to be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of TTM...

BACKGROUND: Self harm is a great diagnostic and treatment challenge. In addition, psychocutaneous conditions are rare in the pediatric population and may therefore be misdiagnosed. Dermatitis artefacta is a psychocutaneous syndrome, which is a subgroup of the general spectrum of self-inflicted skin lesions. Dermatitis artefacta encompasses an array of different clinical manifestations, including purpura. Factitious purpura has rarely been reported in children. METHODS: Case report and review of the literature...

BACKGROUND: Psychocutaneous medicine concerns the recognition and treatment of psychological distress and psychiatric morbidity associated with dermatological diseases. A study in 2004 examining resources in the UK highlighted a number of deficiencies, and recommended that psychodermatology services be available, at least regionally, in the UK. Although there is now increased recognition of psychodermatology, this study of the availability of these services shows that provision has deteriorated since 2004...