A psychiatric and psychodynamic investigation of LCO (Prurico Nodularis Hyde) patients

Prurico Nodularis Hyde (LCO) is a rare dermatitis yielding with difficulty to treatment and often tends to be chronic. Its clinical manifestations are hard itching, verrucose nodes in areas of the skin only reached by the hands. The aetiology is unknown. It has been surmised that psychic factors are involved in the onset and the clinical course of the disease. Five psychotherapies were carried out during a five-year interview period with a group of 32 women and 9 men. Everyone interviewed described childhood environments and early developmental years as harsh and emotionally restricted. Nearly all had recollections of painful experiences of loneliness and longing for warm contact with another human being. Life-cycles bore the mark of practical activities and the majority had chosen a manual trade. The most significant common feature this study brought to light is the extraordinary propensity of these patients to suffer from psychic trauma. A distinct correlation exists between the outbreak of the disease and the preceding loss of a human relationship, detrimental to self-esteem. The concept "body image" was used in resolving the psychosomatic problems of LCO-patients. It appeared that the emotionally deprived and barren past and the choice of manual labor have tended to deprive the patients of all psychic means. This is evidenced by the inability to endure psychic stress. Psychic to them means physical and they attempt to solve problems with the aid of archaic bodily meaning schemata. Their regression has activated in them an inadequately worked-out separation from mother.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)