The use of psychotropic medications in clinical dermatology.

In this article, the use of selected psychopharmacologic medications was explained in detail. If a patient who is obviously suffering from a psychiatric component of his or her disorder that can be responsive to psychopharmacotherapy refuses to accept a referral to a psychiatrist or other mental health professional, the dermatologist must decide whether to use these medications. If he or she decides to use these medications, it should always be remembered that the choice of psychopharmacologic treatment depends on the nature of the underlying psychopathology-anxiety, psychosis, depression, or compulsion-rather than on the dermatologic label such as neurotic excoriations. It is the hope of the author that more patients who fall into this interface between psychiatry and dermatology will be helped if dermatologists become more familiar with the availability and use of these medications.