Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Psychoneuroimmunology
- 3 Psychiatric comorbidity in dermatological disorders
- 4 Stigmatisation and skin conditions
- 5 Coping with chronic skin conditions: factors important in explaining individual variation in adjustment
- 6 Skin disease and relationships
- 7 The impact of skin disease on children and their families
- 8 Psychological therapies for dermatological problems
- 9 Research methodology in quality of life assessment
- 10 Psychodermatology in context
- Index
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Psychoneuroimmunology
- 3 Psychiatric comorbidity in dermatological disorders
- 4 Stigmatisation and skin conditions
- 5 Coping with chronic skin conditions: factors important in explaining individual variation in adjustment
- 6 Skin disease and relationships
- 7 The impact of skin disease on children and their families
- 8 Psychological therapies for dermatological problems
- 9 Research methodology in quality of life assessment
- 10 Psychodermatology in context
- Index
Summary
‘…You become introverted, avoid contact, become depressed, obsessive in looking at other people, hoping to see someone else who is affected. You undergo a personality change very slowly and bit by bit, a strong person is reduced to isolation. You become angry, sad and desperate. After time, it becomes an operation just to go out of your front door …’. 27-year-old female discussing her 15-year vitiligo history.
APGS Call for Evidence (2003)The skin has long been recognised as the ‘organ of expression’ (Sack, 1928) and serves as the boundary between ourselves and the outside world, a ‘first point of contact’ when strangers meet us. It is also the largest organ of the body. The ways in which the skin can react to many different stimuli, both physiological (i.e. a rash caused by an external noxious substance) and psychological (an individual may blush when feeling embarrassed) highlight the complexity of the relationship between the skin, and external and internal factors. Dermatological disorders have an immediate impact on tactile communication, sexual contact and bodily interaction in particular and fear, anxiety and shame as well as sexual pleasure and excitement can be indicated visibly by growing pale, blushing and hair rising (Van Moffaert, 1992).
Unlike most internal illnesses, skin disease is often immediately visible to others and therefore people suffering from dermatological conditions may suffer social and emotional consequences.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- PsychodermatologyThe Psychological Impact of Skin Disorders, pp. 1 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005