Literature reports suggest that up to 30% of dermatology patients have associated psychiatric co-morbidity. A psychodermatology liaison (PD) clinic is essential to deal with such patients, which is almost non-existent in the Indian scenario. In order to report the working pattern of such a clinic and to determine its efficacy with the help of Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction (SAPS) questionnaires, we investigated patients with suspected psychocutaneous diseases in an open-labelled two-year prospective study. Of 236 patients, 86 had psychiatric co-morbidity, 19 had primary psychiatric disorders, 144 were advised psychological interventions and 98 were prescribed psychotropics. A statistically significant fall in DLQI scores at follow-up indicated improvement in quality of life. SAPS scales demonstrated 87.3% of patients in our PD clinic were satisfied with their management in contrast to 53.8% patients in the normal standard dermatology clinic. Nearly 33% of the patients attending our PD clinic had psychiatric co-morbidity, the commonest being an adjustment disorder.

Psychodermatology is an exciting field which deals with the close relationship that exists between dermatological and psychiatric disorders. A combined bio-psycho-social approach is essential for effective evaluation and treatment of these conditions. This review aims to give the practicing clinician an overview of psychiatric evaluation in patients with dermatological conditions.

The objective of this paper is to provide a review on the psychiatric comorbidity research in India based on the data published in the last six decades. The comorbidity data world over reflects that it is a much more common phenomenon than observed in routine clinical practice. In India, research into this domain of psychiatry has been limited, with comorbidity reported to be as high as 60%. In the few publications in this area, most of the authors have looked into substance related comorbidity. Small numbers of studies have looked into comorbid conditions in child psychiatry, especially mental retardation and very few studies have looked at other comorbidities. The landmarks in the studies in the area of psychiatric comorbidity have been highlighted in this review article.