Personality disorders and its association with anxiety and depression among patients of severe acne: A cross-sectional study from Eastern India

Abstract

Background:In many patients, emotional stress may exacerbate acne. Psychological problems such as social phobias, low self-esteem, or depression may also occur as a result of acne. The presence of acne may have some negative effect on the quality of life, self-esteem, and mood of the affected patients. While some studies have been undertaken about anxiety, depression, and personality patterns in patients with acne, only a few studies have been done to identify specific personality disorders in patients with acne. Furthermore, there is a dearth of data regarding the effect of personality disorder on the psychological states of the patients which prompted us to undertake the present study.Methodology:This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, undertaken in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Eastern India. Consecutive patients suffering from severe (Grade 3 and 4) acne, attending the Dermatology Outpatient Department, aged above 18 years were included to the study.Results:A total of 65 patients were evaluated with a mean age of 26 years. Personality disorder was present in 29.2% of patients. The diagnosed personality disorders were obsessive compulsive personality disorder (n = 9, 13.8%), anxious (avoidant) personality disorder (n = 6, 9.2%), and borderline personality disorder (n = 2, 3%), mixed personality disorder (n = 2, 3%). All patients with personality disorder had some psychiatric comorbidity. Patients having personality disorder had higher number of anxiety and depressive disorders which were also statistically significant.Conclusion:The present study highlights that personality disorders and other psychiatric comorbidities are common in the setting of severe acne.

Impact of Acne Vulgaris on the Psychiatric Morbidity & Quality of Life of Patients- A Cross Sectional Study

“…When it came to Grade 4 acne patients 83% had moderate anxiety, whereas moderate to severe anxiety was seen among one patient in Grade 3 &4 each. Similar results were observed by Sarkar et al 16 and Purvis et al 17 where there was a positive correlation between acne grades and anxiety scores.…”

“…None of our patients reported severe depression. The severity of the acne directly correlated with depression scores in the patients, similar results were observed by Sarker et al 16 Purvis et al 17 & Ulsu et al 18 While it is well known that acne and other skin conditions are known to cause psychological distress and leads to increased psychiatric morbidity, Bondade et al 19 found that 40% of the acne population showed comorbid psychiatric illness. Contrary to majority of the findings, some studies have reported that acne doesn't have any significant effect on the psyche of the individual, Atkan et al 20 conducted a study on 2657 acne patients, he observed that there was no correlation between acne severity & HAM-D & HAM-A scores.…”

The mental health burden in acne vulgaris and rosacea: an analysis of the US National Inpatient Sample

“…The mechanisms for the increased admission rates for MH disorders in patients with acne or rosacea are unknown. Acne and rosacea have been found to be associated with increased rates of personality disorders and/or mood disorders, including depression and anxiety . It may be that more severe acne and rosacea are associated with severe MH symptoms, warranting clinical hospitalization.…”

“…Acne and rosacea have been found to be associated with increased rates of personality disorders and/or mood disorders, including depression and anxiety. [19][20][21] It may be that more severe acne and rosacea are associated with severe MH symptoms, warranting clinical hospitalization. A complex interaction of cutaneous and gut microbiome has been proposed to have an impact on acne severity and potentially influence systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, glycaemic control and ultimately MH symptoms.…”

Evaluation of the Effect of Anxiety and Depression on Cognitive Functions in Patients with Severe Acne Vulgaris

“…Akne de depresyon ve kişilik bozukluğu gibi pek çok hastalığı tetiklemektedir. Sonuçta kısır döngü unutkanlık, hafızayı düzgün kullanamama gibi patolojik durumlara neden olabilmektedir (7).…”