Foreword

Psychodermatology is a critically important aspect of dermatological practice because psychological factors significantly affect a large proportion of our patients. It is an entire field, not just one disease, such as psoriasis. As such, there are different areas within psychodermatology. One important area is psychophysiological disorders, whereby emotional stress frequently precipitates or exacerbates real skin condition. This is most often observed in inflammatory conditions, such as psoriasis and eczema, but the influence of stress is also often reported in conditions without observable inflammation, such as vitiligo and alopecia areata. Another important area involves primary psychiatric disorder in which there are no real skin disorders; the lesions are all self-induced. This area includes delusion of parasitosis, neurotic excoriations, trichotillomania, and factitious dermatitis. The third important area is secondary psychiatric disorder where patient suffers from the negative consequence of disfigurement, such as depression, anxiety, and social phobia. Lastly, psychodermatology includes cutaneous sensory disorder where patient experiences distressing symptoms without visible primary skin lesions or diagnosable internal condition. 

This book on psychodermatology covers different areas. Moreover, within these areas, there are highly relevant diagnoses such as, skin picking and body dysmorphic disorder, which are discussed in detail in separate chapters. I highly recommend any practitioners of dermatology to familiarize himself/herself with psychodermatology through this clinically useful book that is easily accessible. The material in this book will undoubtedly greatly enhance our care of these patients who are the most unfortunate and miserable sufferers of psychodermatological disorders.

John Koo
Argentina Leon
UCSF Department of Dermatology
San Francisco
California
USA