The Psychiatric-psychosomatic consultations in Modena University Hospital Department of Dermatology. The Present state and the perspectives.

Collected 3 yrs of data from 49 consultations in the dermatology department of a psychiatric-psychosomatic service. Dermatologists completed a referral checklist that included psychiatric and somatic diagnosis, interventions, and psychosocial and behavioral treatment. Most cases involved psychiatric or psychosomatic diagnoses: A psychosomatic genesis was noted for psoriasis and alopecia areata, and pruritus and chronic urticaria were considered of mixed origin, involving anxiety, repressed anger, or stress. Reasons for referral included psychopathological, psychosomatic, somatopsychic, and relational causes. Psychopathological reasons were most prevalent and involved anxiety and depression. Ongoing collaboration between psychiatrists and dermatologists is recommended with emphasis on precipitating effects of stressful life events and on the psychological repercussions of dermatoses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)