Skin Disease

Book excerpt: The last fifty years have encompassed unparalleled development in the world of scientific medical research. Yet, the causation of many diseases eludes consciousness. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the sometimes neglected discipline of dermatology, as a scientific basis for causation and treatment is offered to very few diseases of the skin. In fact, the cause is unknown in the vast majority of cases. This work is an exploration of the unconscious psychic background of acute, but mainly chronic, skin diseases. It is a study which includes both the personal unconscious of each individual and the vast archetypal world with its communication by image and symbol, which is named the collective unconscious or objective psyche. Its reality was established 100 years ago by C.G. Jung's early work with the galvanometer and the word association test, through the medium of the skin. He was to describe psyche, including consciousness and the unconscious realm, as the greatest of all cosmic wonders. His concept of the human soul included this totality of psyche. The development of the field of biofeedback later in the last century revealed the extraordinary ability of the skin to reflect the inner life of psyche. In this psychological exploration of each individual troubled by problems of the skin, a wide variety of psychic emotional disturbances was uncovered in the course of the study. It also became apparent that the skin is a paramount psychic reflector in a singularly graphic way in many instances. The conscious recognition of these hidden disturbances and the acceptance by the individual proved to be the key factor in the study. This realization with its inherent meaning usually brought amelioration of symptoms and often a resolution of the ailment. The skin disease in such cases is a message from the soul itself.