原著
アトピー性皮膚炎は習慣病
―家族療法の試み―
1990 年 4 巻 1 号 p. 51-58
詳細
1990 年 4 巻 1 号 p. 51-58
Although atopic dermatitis is generally said to be an allergic disease, I had many experiences in obtaining good results through the psychosomatic treatment by myself for those cases of atopic dermatitis in which allergen removal therapy had proved to be ineffective. On the basis of these experiences I propose to regard atopic dermatitis as a habit disorder in which the patient get accustomed to the bad habit of scraping. Children with atopic dermatitis are apt to scrape every itch they feel. The treatment consists in cutting off this vicious cycle of scraping by means of family therapy including paradoxical approach.
A case of a 4-year old boy: The patient, who was also complicated with asthma received alimentary allergen removal therapy without good results. Then, the patient was kept on family therapy for his supposed psychosomatic disease and his family was encouraged to make him scrape enough for a definite time. The result was remarkable remission of his eruption.
A case of a 10-year old boy: The patient, who had been suffering from atopic dermatitis since one year of age, was in remission of asthma. The patient presented severe type of atopic dermatitis and was autistic. Then, with a view to cutting off the vicious cycle between the patient and his mother, hospitalization therapy of the patient alone without any help from his mother was started. In anticipation of the effect of group therapy, other two children with the same disease were also hospitalization with him. The patient, who was only weeping initially in hospitalization became remitted of eruption as he tended to be yearned after by the other two children. The patient himself also recovered his natural child- like traits. But, after leaving hospital, eruption recrudescenced, suggesting a strong degree of intrafamilial vicious cycle. Subsequent family therapy, in which his mother made him scrape itches as much as he liked led to the remission of his skin erruption. The patient is now in quasi-healing thereof.
Under the mask of atopic dermatitis, the family of a patient with the disease is apt to repeat the word "don't scrape!", and in such circumstances the disease will become more and more difficult of healing. Generally, eruption seems to become naturally better in the neglect of the patient's scraping on the part of his family.
