Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T14:39:16.758Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychogenic Skin Disease: A Review of 35 Cases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

N. P. Sheppard ,
S. O'Loughlin  and
J. P. Malone
N. P. Sheppard*
Affiliation:
St Finan's Hospital, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Eire Dept. of Adult Psychiatry, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Eire
S. O'Loughlin
Affiliation:
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7
J. P. Malone
Affiliation:
Dept. of Adult Psychiatry, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7
*
∗ Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In three years of clinical practice, the authors saw 35 cases of dermatological disorders of strictly psychological origin-8 patients with dermatitis artefacta, 8 with delusional parasitosis, and 19 who presented with skin complaints but showed no dermatological pathology (‘dermatological non-disease’). All but two initially presented for dermatological opinion rather than psychiatric assessment, and 12 refused psychiatric referral. Demographic and clinical details of all 35 cases are given, including possible related factors, course, treatment, and outcome, and the cases are discussed in the context of the existing literature. Liaison between dermatologists and psychiatrists is strongly advocated.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 149 , Issue 5 , November 1986 , pp. 636 - 643
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cotterill, J. A. (1981) Dermatological non-disease: a common and potentially fatal disturbance of cutaneous body image. British Journal of Dermatology, 104, 611–619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eller, J. J. (1974) Skin disorders and the psyche. Cutis, 13, 395–416.Google Scholar
Gardner, F. H. & Diamond, L. K. (1955) Autoerythrocyte sensitization: A form of purpura producing painful bruising following autosensitization to red blood cells in certain women. Blood, 10, 675–690.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gould, W. M. & Gragg, T. M. (1976) Delusions of parasitosis. Archives of Dermatology, 112, 1745–1748.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hay, G. G. (1970) Dysmorphophobia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 399–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hughes, J. E., Barraclough, B. M., Hamblin, L. G. A White, J. E. (1983) Psychiatric symptoms in dermatology patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 51–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koblenzer, C. S. (1983) Psychosomatic concepts in dermatology. Archives of Dermatology, 119, 501–512.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyell, A. (1976) Dermatitis artefacta in relation to the syndrome of contrived disease. Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 1, 109–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munro, A. (1980) Monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 24, 34–38.Google ScholarPubMed
Rafnoff, O. D. & Agle, D. P. (1968) Psychogenic purpura: A re-evaluation of the syndrome of autoerythrocyte sensitization. Medicine. 47, 475–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reilly, T. M., Jopling, W. H. A Beard, A. W. (1978) Successful treatments with pimozide of delusional parasitosis. British Journal of Dermatology, 98, 457–459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riding, J. A Munro, A. (1975) Pimozide in the treatment of monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavie a, 52, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sneddon, I. A Sneddon, J. (1975) Self-inflicted injury: A follow-up study of 43 patients. British Medical Journal, 3, 527–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.