Background: A high percentage of the patients referred to dermatologic clinics are either suffer from self inflicted disorders or from misinterpretation about their own health and organ integrity and or may suffer from different skin sensations including itching, pain, and burning; all of which may develop ...
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Background: A high percentage of the patients referred to dermatologic clinics are either suffer from self inflicted disorders or from misinterpretation about their own health and organ integrity and or may suffer from different skin sensations including itching, pain, and burning; all of which may develop as a result of their underlying psychopathologies. Objective: Identification of underlying psychopathology of psychocutaneous disorders. Patients and Methods: 109 dermatologic patients who clinically diagnosed as psychocutaneous disorders referred to psychiatric clinic for identification of their mood, personality and thought disorders. The impression of psychocutaneous disorder was made according to clinical interview and physical examinations in dermatology office. A semi-structured interview based on DSM-IV criteria performed on all patients to evaluate their mood, personality and thought. They also filled the Beck’s and Tailor inventories for further evaluation of their possible depression and anxiety. Results: 107 out of 109 cases studied, suffered from mood disorders including anxiety, depression or a combination of them. Of the remaining two cases one suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the second one had no psychiatric disorder. 17 out of these 107 cases also suffered from personality disorder and 3 cases had delusional thoughts. Conclusion: All psychocutaneous patients may suffer from one or more psychiatric disorders which should be identified and approached properly.
Background: Thirty to forty percent of the patients referred to dermatologic clinics are estimated to have psychiatric problems. These patients either are those who have developed dermatologic problems as a consequence of their primary psychiatric disorders or those who have developed psychiatric disorders ...
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Background: Thirty to forty percent of the patients referred to dermatologic clinics are estimated to have psychiatric problems. These patients either are those who have developed dermatologic problems as a consequence of their primary psychiatric disorders or those who have developed psychiatric disorders following their chronic and disfiguring dermatologic problems. The third group are psychophysiologic disorders which may aggravate following psychiatric or emotional stress. Objectives: Our purpose is to stress the significance of the psychodermatologic problems for both dermatologists and psychiatrists; to have an overview and a brief classification of these and discussing the approach to the patients with psychodermatologic disorders. Methods: The dermatologists and psychiatrists’ pitfalls in approaching the psychodermatologic disorders are discussed. Psychodermatologic disorders are classified and their underlying psychopathologies are mentioned. Conclusion: Both dermatologists and psychiatrists should be trained more to manage these relatively frequent patients well; for this purpose establishing the dermatology-psychiatry liaison clinics and or helding the dermatologic-psychiatric conferences are advised.