Depressive Symptoms and Self Esteem; Psoriasis

The present study was aimed to assess depressive symptoms and self esteem among patients with psoriasis attending dermatology outpatient department of Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur. The objectives of the study were to assess depressive symptoms among patients with psoriasis, identify the self esteem of patients with psoriasis, find the correlation between depressive symptoms and self esteem among patients with psoriasis, find the association between depressive symptoms and selected variables among patients with psoriasis and find the association between self esteem and selected variables among patients with psoriasis. A descriptive survey was used for the study. The sample consisted of 85 patients who met the inclusion criteria selected by non probability purposive sampling. The tools used were interview schedule for socio demographic data, self rating method for Beck Depression Inventory II and Rosenberg self esteem scale. Findings revealed that less than half (38.7%) of patients with psoriasis had normal ups and down and 55.3% had mild mood disturbance. More than half (67.1%) of the patients with psoriasis had average self esteem. The study found an association of depressive symptoms and self esteem with gender. The study has implications in nursing practice, education, administration and research.