title: Psychological Interventions in the Treatment of Chronic Itch.
abstract: Patients with chronic itch suffer from higher levels of depression and anxiety than their healthy counterparts. Furthermore, psychological factors, such as stress, are known to aggravate itch. The mere act of thinking about itching can induce the sensation. Interventions like habit reversal training and arousal reduction have been shown to have positive effects on itch relief. Yet, there is still limited data on the psychological management to control the itch scratch cycle and a description of methods suitable to address itch. In this review, we describe different psychological interventions shown to be effective in the treatment of chronic itch. We also provide suggestions based on our experience of suitable interventions for patients with different types of itch.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Itch Center, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schut
authors.forename: Nicholas K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Mollanazar
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kupfer
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gieler
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yosipovitch
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003071:Cognition; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D011537:Pruritus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012677:Sensation; D016896:Treatment Outcome