Skin problems linked with stress

REFERRING younger women with skin diseases for adjunct psychological therapy may be beneficial for symptom relief, Australian researchers say.

The recommendation follows a study that added weight to the theory that depression symptoms and stress were significantly associated with skin problems.

A total of 6630 women aged 22–27 taken from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health answered a question on skin problems and stress levels in three surveys, in 2000, 2003 and 2006, with 8% reporting having skin problems in all three surveys.

In each of the surveys, about a quarter of participants reported skin problems.

The researchers, from the University of Newcastle, NSW, said the results showed adding psychological therapy to physical treatment of the condition was a worthy adjunct.

“Stress reduction techniques and psychological interventions have been proposed as adjunctive treatments in skin disease, but evidence for their efficacy is unconvincing.

“The results of the present study suggest that rationale for these interventions is sound,” they said.

Women who never reported skin problems consistently had the lowest levels of stress.

Arch Dermatology 2009;145(8):896-902