Thirty-three inpatients with vitiligo were compared at the Tomesa Klinik (Bad Salzschlirf, Germany) to a healthy control group using the Beck Depression Inventory, Interaction Anxiety Questionnaire (German version: Interaktions-Angst-Fragebogen, Becker), and the Questionnaire on Health Locus on Control Scales (in the German version: Fragebogen zu Kontrollüberzeugungen von Krankheit und Gesundheit – KKG – by Lohaus und Schmitt). The groups were matched for age, sex and social situation. 27.3% of patients attributed their vitiligo to emotional stress. The patients were not characterized by elevated depression values, but the depression scores tended to increase with the duration of illness. Com-pared to the control group, the patients had higher scores in some specific areas of anxiety. This could be reduced by early improvement in coping strategies by means of psychotherapeutic measures. Compared to the control group, the vitiligo patients considered the locus of control to be more external. When a large percentage of the body surface was affected, the patients had in-creased scores indicating fatalistic Health Locus of Control.