TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychological interventions in the treatment of chronic itch
AU - Schut, Christina
AU - Mollanazar, Nicholas K.
AU - Kupfer, Jörg
AU - Gieler, Uwe
AU - Yosipovitch, Gil
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors.
PY - 2016/2
Y1 - 2016/2
N2 - Patients with chronic itch suffer from higher levels of depression and anxiety than their healthy counterparts. Furthermore, psychological factors, such as stress, are known to aggravate itch. The mere act of thinking about itching can induce the sensation. Interventions like habit reversal training and arousal reduction have been shown to have positive effects on itch relief. Yet, there is still limited data on the psychological management to control the itch scratch cycle and a description of methods suitable to address itch. In this review, we describe different psychological interventions shown to be effective in the treatment of chronic itch. We also provide suggestions based on our experience of suitable interventions for patients with different types of itch.
AB - Patients with chronic itch suffer from higher levels of depression and anxiety than their healthy counterparts. Furthermore, psychological factors, such as stress, are known to aggravate itch. The mere act of thinking about itching can induce the sensation. Interventions like habit reversal training and arousal reduction have been shown to have positive effects on itch relief. Yet, there is still limited data on the psychological management to control the itch scratch cycle and a description of methods suitable to address itch. In this review, we describe different psychological interventions shown to be effective in the treatment of chronic itch. We also provide suggestions based on our experience of suitable interventions for patients with different types of itch.
KW - Acceptance and commitment therapy
KW - Arousal reduction
KW - Chronic itch
KW - Cognitive restructuring
KW - Habit reversal training
KW - Mindfulness-based stress reduction
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U2 - 10.2340/00015555-2177
DO - 10.2340/00015555-2177
M3 - Article
C2 - 26073701
AN - SCOPUS:84954536100
VL - 96
SP - 157
EP - 161
JO - Acta Dermato-Venereologica
JF - Acta Dermato-Venereologica
SN - 0001-5555
IS - 2
ER -