Does Your Skin Need A Therapist?

Hop on the couch! Psychodermatologists—part derm, part shrink— explain how your feelings show up on your skin.

- Melanie Rud Chadwick

BLUSHING WHEN YOU’RE embarrassed, breaking out in goose bumps when you hear something chilling—they’re common examples that prove we just can’t separate how we feel from how our skin looks. Can we use that information to our face’s benefit? Yes! So say the dual-purpose docs we spoke to: dermatologists with additional training in psychiatry or psychology (or vice versa) who treat both the physical and the emotional. Along with taking care of their patients’ skin, they may practice talk therapy or even prescribe antidepressants or antianxiety medication. The upshot? A unique perspective when it comes to solving all kinds of complexion concerns. Read on for their special brand of skin-saving advice.

LESSON 1 The mind-skin connection is real.

There’s no shortage of ways that emotions manifest themselves in physical symptoms—think butterflies in your stomach when you’re nervous or a pounding heart when you’re scared—but this effect is particularly strong when it comes to your skin. The relationship begins in the womb: “The skin and nervous system share a common embryonic origin, meaning the same cells form both the brain and the skin,” explains Josie Howard, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist with expertise in psychodermatology. This creates an inextricable connection, which shows up in a multitude of ways you may ILLUSTRATIONS BY Astrid Torres not even notice (more on that later).