ABSTRACT
Pathomimias have a surprising and unpredictable evolution, and present capricious relapses and a resistance to all therapeutic treatment that is generally successful with other dermatoses. There are two large groups of patients studied by psycho-dermatology: patients with cutaneous problems associated with psychiatric pathologies, and patients with psychiatric problems associated with cutaneous pathologies. Attempts at classification have shown groups which are not always well-defined; however, the manifestations characterised by self-inflicted lesions which try to imitate a disease with the intention of obtaining some sort of benefit have been called "pathomimia". The presence of an observer has a lot to do with the name "pathomimia", which etymologically can be divided into pathos and mimos, which in Greek are related to the simulation of a disease. In the departments of psychiatry and dermatology, the knowledge, experience and vocational service of doctors is usually structured or compartmentalised in a certain way, as a natural corollary of specialized medical training.
