Practitioner assessment of mental health in dermatologic disease

Abstract

Patients with certain dermatologic skin diseases have been found to beat increased risk for depression and suicidal ideation. As there is not much information available on mental health interventions taken in dermatologie practices, we conducted a survey to assess the extent to which dermatologists monitor and follow up with the mental health of their patients. We discovered that dermatologists are aware of mental health issues associated with these dermatologie diseases but have no standard of care for their assessment. By obtaining this information, we can enable ourselves to fill in these deficiencies to help improve patient care.