Psoriasis and Psyche - What's New? What is Clinically Relevant?

The last decades have witnessed an increasing interest in psychological aspects of chronic skin disease. Psoriasis has received much attention, partly due to the pivotal change brought to therapeutic concepts by biologics. This article aims to provide a brief overview, with no claims on exhaustiveness, on recent (i.e. stemming from the last 10-15 years) publications on psychodermatological research in psoriasis, with particular reference to those results that have shown in the past or may show in the near future important consequences for clinical practice (i.e. patient education models, psychotropic effects of TNF-alpha antagonists and others). Some considerations are presented on the difficulties encountered on performing clinical studies of non pharmacological interventions. The possible beneficial effect of e-Health projects is discussed.