Article

The author attempts to draw an outline of psychodermatological problems of adolescence. Starting from the fact that adolescence is the most critical if not the most significant period of the general process of maturation in that it sums up all previous conflicts, he wonders why the skin appears to take such a considerable importance in this regard. In passing, he emphasizes that acne is the only disease related to a phase of psychosexual maturation, which appears to indicate for that phase a specific tropism with regard to the tegumentary covering. The author describes in three separate stages the period of adolescence and attempts to characterize them by their own conflicts. From this point, he indicates the possibilities of establishing some correlation between the type of conflict and the role of the skin in such conflicts. Finally, relying upon the works of Max Shur and Anna Freud, the author does not hesitate in attributing to the skin a vital role in the development of the ego and the libidinal economy of the individual. The author concludes by suggesting that repetition compulsion operates particularly at the level of the skin and that skin lesions constitute a zone of least resistance and invite conflicts to find their expression there. “The erotic quality of certain experiences of itching, scratching, excoriation and exhibition is obvious enough to bring this to our attention.”