Syphilophobia: a frustrating psychiatric illness presenting to dermatologists
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66344/jpad.16.4.2006.886Keywords:
Syphilophobia, venereophobia, venereoneurosis, syphilitic obsession, hypochondriasisAbstract
Syphilis becomes an obsession with vulnerable person and thus causes him much suffering and keeps him running from doctor to doctor. The symptoms of syphilis are so varied and so typical of other ailments, that there is not a single person living who cannot find symptoms in himself if he searches closely enough. We present a young patient who was obsessed with the idea of having acquired this sexually transmitted disease. It had caused needless stress and made his life miserable for the last couple of years. After thorough investigations, he was labeled as a case of syphilophobia and was managed with consultation and regular follow up by the psychiatrist.ÂReferences
McAlpine I. Syphilophobia; a psychiatric study. Br J Vener Dis 1957; 33: 92-9.
Kochetkov VD, Milich MV. Syphilophobia in the practice of the dermato-venerologist. Vestn Dermatol Venerol 1968; 42: 62-7.
Brotman AW, Forstein M. AIDS obsessions in depressed heterosexuals. Psychosomatics 1988; 29: 428-31.
Kausch O. Irrational fear of AIDS associated with suicidal behavior. J Psychiatr Pract 2004; 10: 266-71.
Ross MW. Psychological perspectives on sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases. In: Holmes K, Magrdh P-A, Sparling PF, Wiesner PJ, eds. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1990. p. 55-60.
Fitzpatrick R, Frost D, Ikkos G. Survey of psychological disturbance in patients attending a sexually transmitted diseases clinic. Genitourin Med 1986; 62: 111-5.
Post JM. Hitler: Diagnosis of a destructive prophet. N Engl J Med 1999; 340: 1691-2.
Jenike MA, Pato C. Disabling fear of AIDS responsive to imipramine. Psychosomatics 1986; 27: 143-4.
Gupta MA, Gupta AK. Psychodermatology: an update. J Am Acad Dermatol 1996; 34: 1030-46.
Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ. Hypochondriasis. In: Kaplan HI, Sadock BJ, Grebb JA, eds. Synopsis of Psychiatry, 7th edn. Baltimore: Williums & Wilkins; 1994. p. 624-6.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Submission declaration
Authors retain the copyright to their work and grant the 'Journal of Pakistan Association of Dermatologists (JPAD)' the right of first publication under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This license allows others to share, adapt, and reuse the work for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as appropriate credit is given to the original authors and the journal.
By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that the work has not been published previously (except as an abstract, lecture, or academic thesis), is not under review elsewhere, and has been approved by all authors and relevant authorities. Once accepted, the article will be openly accessible under the CC BY 4.0 license, ensuring wide dissemination and reuse with proper attribution.
