title: Psychiatric Features in Neurotic Excoriation Patients: The Role of Childhood Trauma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neurotic excoriation is a psychodermatological disease of primary psychological/psychiatric genesis, responsible for self-induced dermatological disorders. Childhood traumatic events are closely related with self-injurious behaviors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychiatric features of neurotic excoriation and to investigate the effect of childhood traumatic events on the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight neurotic excoriation patients who did not receive any psychiatric treatment within the past year and 40 healthy individuals having similar sociodemographic features were included in the study. For clinical evaluation, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form were applied to all the individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, we observed that 78.9% of neurotic excoriation patients were diagnosed with at least one Axis I psychiatric disorder, the most frequent diagnoses of which were major depressive disorders and anxiety disorders. The anxiety and depression levels were significantly higher in the patient group than in the healthy individuals. Regarding the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and physical abuse subscales and weighted average total scores were found to be significantly higher in the patient group (p<.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study has shown a close relationship between neurotic excoriation and childhood traumatic events as well as the accompanying psychiatric problems. We suppose that early interventions by both dermatologists and psychiatrists and especially a detailed investigation of childhood traumatic events by establishing a therapeutic collaboration are highly important and that using psychotherapeutic interventions can result in better treatment outcomes in many patients.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Psychiatry, Erenköy Psychiatric Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yalçin
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Psychiatry, Bahçelievler State Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Evrim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tellioğlu
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Psychiatry, Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Deniz Uluhan
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: B Mert
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Savrun
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Özmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ertuğrul H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Aydemir
keywords: Neurotic excoriation; childhood trauma; psychodermatology; psychogenic excoriation; skin picking