1991 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 417-421
A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of refractory chronic urticaria in September, 1998. The age of onset was 11 years old. He had been administered prednisolone, most of antihistaminic drugs and antiallergic drugs for a long time. He had also received non-specific therapy. There were causative factors related to his symptom on neither physical nor laboratory examination. Psychological tests indicated he had a neurotic and depressive personality. In addition to psychological tests, he was diagnosed clinically as hypochondriacal neurosis and neurotic depression. According to our clinical observation, his symptom of urticaria exacerbated with stress and subsided with relaxation. With regard to his psychological background, the onset of the illness followed bereavement of his loving father. Moreover, he missed affection of his dominant mother. He suppressed or repressed his aggression against his mother for long. Futhermore, he grew to be in a state of depression because of his work and senility. It seemed that his symptom was related to these psychological factors. Two months later, he was improved by psychosomatic therapy. He no longer needed prednisolone. He had a good clinical course afterward. In conclusion, it is important to practice a psychosomatic approach for urticarial patients from an early stage of treatment.
