Considering that the skin is our border with the world, allowing us to make contact and exchanges with the environment, could skin alterations be seen as expressions of our yearning for the other or our need for "affective exchanges"? The authors report an observation of the clinical and emotional evolution of a baby with atopic dermatitis who took part in the support group of atopic dermatitis during nine moths. The results showed changes in the child's behavior: he could play freely, developed more concrete social interactions, decreased aggressiveness and irritability, presented a better interaction with his mother, as well as showed a considerable improvement in the status of the dermatological disease. The authors conclude that the covering reached by the interdisciplinary approach provided by the group enables an early intervention in the mother-baby relation, which could be considered as a mother-child mental health preventive strategy, avoiding future pathologies.
Atopic dermatitis; psychodermatology; group therapy