Behavioral Treatment of Skin Disorders

The integument is subject to many disease processes that have a subjective or emotional component, such as pain, itching, and erythema. Many habitual behaviors and tics such as nailbiting and scratching also impinge on the integument, and many emotional states are expressed through the skin, such as blushing and sweating. A rich afferent innervation from a variety of cutaneous organs which detect touch, cold, heat, and pressure, and an efferent network of sympathetic and parasympathetic fibers mediate responses to environmental and emotional stimuli.