A psychological approach in hospital-based educational program to patients with atopic dermatitis: “Experiential stress management”

Abstract

We perform stress management in a hospital-based educational program as a psychological treatment for patients with severe adult atopic dermatitis (AD). Many patients with AD have a poor understanding and awareness of stress and mind-body interaction. Such patients cannot effectively deal with stress, which greatly affects the exacerbation of AD symptoms. We assume that “experiential understanding” is more effective than “educational understanding” to perceive stress and mind-body interaction. Thus, we believe that “experiential stress management,” which encourages a patient to gain insight into stress by means of objectification through psychological tests, communication to elicit questions about stress, and the patient's considering stress and experiencing relaxation, would be useful.Skin Research, Suppl. 18: 39-42, 2012