Abstract:
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a skin disease characterized by itching, typical morphology,
and distribution of rash, chronic relapsing course, and personal or family history of
“atopic diathesis.” Stress is an important precipitating factor of AD. Stress has also
some causal link with depression. Rationale of this case report is to demonstrate the
co‑occurrence of AD and depression in a patient, and better improvement of AD occurs
when homoeopathic treatment focuses on psychological symptoms. Here, a 38‑year‑old
male presented with a 6‑month history of eczematous skin lesions with associated
symptoms of depression in the background of chronic ongoing stress. A diagnosis of
AD with comorbid depression was made. He initially did not show stable improvement
on homoeopathic medicine selected on the basis of totality of symptoms and miasmatic
background. On changing the medicine giving more priority to psychological symptoms,
he gradually showed stable improvement on both the domain of symptoms and reached
remission by 3 months. Remission maintained without any recurrence over the next
3½ years. Hence, the main lesson from this case is the demonstration of importance of
mental symptoms over other physical symptoms in homoeopathic treatment.