• Title/Summary/Keyword: Psychology of alopecia

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Psychological Characteristics of Alopecia Areata and Androgenetic Alopecia in Women (원형 탈모증과 안드로겐성 탈모증 여성의 정신적 특성에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Doo-Byoung;Jin, Seong-Nam;Min, Kyung-Jun;Noh, Byung-In
    • Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.16-23
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    • 2005
  • Objectives : We have studied female patients with either alopecia areata or androgenetic alopecia to evaluate psychological aspects, such as anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and characteristic personalities. In addition, we tried to examine the differences in psychological characteristics between these two types of alopecia, where the alopecia areata has been cotroversial on the role of stress in its etiology and the androgenetic alopecia seems to be more influeced by genetic and biological factors. Methods : All participated patients were females with alopecia for more than 1 you. Among them, 52 were with alopecia areata and 33 were with androgenetic alopecia. They were compared with 54 normal healthy controls by using MMPI, BDI, STAI-S, STAI-T, and TAS-20K. Results The average scores of F, Hs, D, Pd, Pa, Sc, Si in MMPI of alopecia groups were significantly higher than that of normal controls, and the androgenetic alopecia group had highest Hy and Pt scores. The average scores of BDI, STAI-S, and STAI-T in alopecia groups were higher than the normal controls. 94.2% of alopecia areata patients and 97.0% of androgenetic alopecia patients had severe depression, who scored higher than 23 in BDI. In TAS-20K, the average total scores of alopecia groups were higher than the normal control group, and the average Factor 3 score in androgentic alopecia was higher than the other groups. The alopecia groups scored higher than normal control group in STAI-S and STAI-T. Conclusion : Females with chronic alopecia were more depressed, had higher levels of anxiety, and more alexithymic than normal healthy females. In spite of arguments about etiological role of stress to alopecia, psychiatric interventions are needed for depression, and considerations for personality and psychological defense mechanism were needed in both types of alopecia.

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An Analysis of the Psychiatric Characteristics of the Alopecia Areata in Female (여성 탈모증의 정신의학적 특성 분석)

  • Lee, Kil-Hong;Na, Chul;Lee, Young-Sik;Lee, Chang-Hoon;No, Byung-In;Hong, Chang-Kwon
    • Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.31-45
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    • 2000
  • Objectives : The present study was performed to reveal differences between female and male cases of alopecia in their alopecia related variables such as patterns of hair loss, psychiatric characteristics, associate illnesses, and methods of treatment, and to use them as basic materials for proper management and early prevention of the alopecia prone cases. Methods : In order to analysis the gender difference in hair losses, the subjects were divided into two subgroups as the 51 cases of female alopecia and the 42 cases of male alopecia, who had visited to the department of psychiatry consulted from the department of dermatology, Yongsan hopital, ChungAng University, Seoul, Korea, from January 1998 to December 1998. In data analysis, the subjects were statistically assesed by chi-squre test and analysis of varaiance, through SPSS-$PC^+$ 9.0V. Results : 1) Female subjects were more likely showed lower socio-economical level including lower eonomical level, lower educational level, or lower occupational level in their parent's job, were more likely to have larger number of siblings and to have many sisters comparison to the male cases. 2) Female subjects were more likely visited to the department of dermatology, more history of alopecia in their female family members, lesser history of alopecia in their male family members, more loss of hairs in vertex or frontal region of scalp, lesser loss of hairs in occipital region, and lesser nail changes in comparison to the male cases. 3) Female subjects were more suffered from intra-familial conflicts and economical changes, or their introverted personality makeup, lesser likely suffered from changes of business and health changes, and showed lesser conflicts related with poorer adaptaion in their job life. 4) Female subjects were more likely diagnosed as depression or conversion disorders, more frequently complaint anxiety symptoms or depressive symptoms, higher level of anxiety index, lesser complaint somatization or obsessive compulsive symptoms, and lesser diagnosed as anxiety disorder in comparison to the male cases. 5) Female subjects were more likely tended to show personality makeup such as the introverted, the lie, the repressed, or the feminine trends than the male cases. 6) Female subjects were more significantly treated by antianxiety drug such as etizolam and dermatological therapies include tretinoin, and lesser treated by clotiazepam and prednicarbonate in comparison to the male cases. Conclusion : From the facts that The most important factors in developing hair loss in the female subjects in comparison to the male cases seems to be closely correlated with the serious psychopathology such as the presence of mental disorders including depression, the presence of complaining anxiety or depressive symptomatology, the presence of stressful life events such as intrafamilial life changes, and the presence of personality makeup such as the introverted, the lie, the repressed, or the feminine trends, the authors confirmed that dermatologists act as the primary care physician are in a unique position to recognize psychiatric comorbidity and execute meaningful intervention for female patients with the alopecia with psychiatrists.

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