ABSTRACT

Dermatological patients whose psychological life would improve with a psychiatric-psychological treatment can be divided into two groups. The more familiar group, with fewer members, is formed by the greater part of psychocutaneous dermatosis, that is: 1) dermatoses that are primarily psychiatric (delusions of parasitosis, dysmorphophobias, glossodynias), 2) dermatoses primarily emotional in origin (dermatitis artefacta, neurotic excoriations, tricho-and onychotillomania, psychogenic purpura, and pathomimicry), and 3) dermatoses due to accentuated psychological responses (hyperhidrosis, flushing). In these dermatoses, the clinical diagnosis already includes the certainty of a psychiatric participation. It is not the patient with all his or her personal characteristics that makes one suspect the existence of psychiatric participation, but the illness itself. If the psychiatric pathology is not taken care of, these patients cannot be helped.