P-850 - the Meaning of the Dermatitis Artefacta Through Beliefs and Culture

Abstract

Dermatitis artefacta or factitious dermatitis is a quite rare kind of psychiatric disorder which has been always a challenge for psychiatrists and dermatologists.

The patient impulsively or as a result of primary or secondary gain makes deliberate scars with his hand or needle, pin, razor and … on his body. Based on kind of spread, shape, margin, and recognition of basic conflict, these scars can be differentiated from other dermatological ones.

What makes this disorder a challenge is not its diagnosis but its treatment, and what is important in treatment understands its meaning by its patient.

The researchers in this study introduce a married 45 years old woman, with Dermatic artefacta, whose scars are limited to her feet. In order to understand the meaning of this disorder, the following question is asked: Why the scars are just seen in her feet?

We try to answer this question with the focus on childhood history, Iranian culture, worldwide common beliefs, literature, and idioms.