[Psoriasis and depression].

Psoriasis is a common inflammatory disease affecting 2%-5% of the population of industrialized countries. Although the association between psychiatric pathologies and dermato- logical conditions is well known, the dermato- logist fails to indentify the psychological distress and when he identifies it, he doesn't take care of this suffering. The biological links between psoriasis and depression are now well-established. The impact on the quality of life (QoL) is studied for several years. In this vast domain of the QoL, the first problem revealed by the patients is the feeling of stigmatization. In psoriasis, the psychiatric comorbidity is estimated approximately at 30 %. The psychiatric troubles the most associated with dermatological conditions in general are depression, anxiety and suicidal ideations. The prevalence of depression in patients with psoriasis is estimated between 10 % and 62 % according to different studies. The patient's psychological distress is not correlated to the intensity of the clinical symptoms and the treatment does not modify either this distress, the coping mechanism, or the patient's opinion about his skin condition. Furthermore, it is necessary to know that the dermatological diseases affecting the patients during their childhood or adolescence will have a significant effect on the formation of their personality. However, personality will have an influence on the psychological morbidity. Therefore, it is important to take care of young people. To help the physician to recognize these difficulties, we propose a review of the literature and a method for a better management of the psychological suffering often experienced by the patients with psoriasis.