[Psychosomatic aspects of psoriasis: affectivity and conflict]

With a sample of 32 patients with psoriasis--compared with 22 control-persons--possible disturbances of the development of affectivity in the childhood of the patients were investigated (cluster- and factor-analysis). By this an essential point in psychosomatic theories could be explained: the inhibition of an immediate psychic discharge of affects. Further investigation concerned the question--, of how far conflict-coping-behavior of psoriatic patients is characterized by denial of reality, excessive repression and over-adjustment. Disturbed affective development and pathological conflict-behavior together may result in a chronic overstrain of psychic structures--as a correlate of the psychosomatic illness. Our results show a pathological conflict-behavior and a disturbed development of affectivity in the genesis of psoriasis. We found two subtypes of psoriatic patients with specific character-traits--whereas a typical personality could not be found.