PSYCHOSOMATIC DERMATOLOGY

The author discusses the psychological dimension of skin diseases by s chematically distinguishing the following main categories: - the psych ological repercussions of any skin disease, - functional cutaneous man ifestations, defined a cutaneous symptoms with no known anatomical bas is (e.g. pruritus sine materia of the elderly, glossodynia), - cutaneo us consequences of behavioural disorders (e.g. pathomimia), - cutaneou s manifestations of a known psychiatric disease (e.g. parasitic deliri um or Ekbom's syndrome), - psychosomatic cutaneous manifestations, whi ch are skin diseases associated with objective biological alterations; psychological factors play an important role in the triggering and/or recurrence of these diseases (e.g. psoriasis, pelade, atopic dermatit is). Psychosomatic dermatology requires a great deal of effort from ev eryone involved (patients, nursing staff), but these efforts are somet imes largely rewarded when the skin finally regains its aesthetic and hedonistic functions and when a patient can finally express himself ve rbally, to his surprise himself and to that of the nursing staff, by d iscovering a Wealth of thought which had been buried inside for such a long time.