A Case of Psychogenic Halitosis Referred to Psychiatry

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Psychosomatic Dentistry Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 132 - 135
• Main Authors: Ogino Tsuneko, Kuwasawa Takaho, Sangu Yoshikuni, Ogiuchi Hideki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Dentistry 1995; 日本歯科心身医学会
• Subjects: Psychiatry; Psychosomatic disorder; Self-perceived halitosis; 心身症; 精神神経科; 自臭症
• ISSN: 0913-6681; 2186-4128
• DOI: 10.11268/jjpsd1986.10.132

We have been working on the treatment of self-perceived halitosis for 6 years. Self-perceived halitosis can be caused by either psychosomatic or psychiatric disorders. In most cases, brief psychotherapy is very effective for psychosomatic disorder, but not for psychiatric disorder. For psychiatric patients, we emphasize the importance of psychiatric treatment, however, patients generally refuse to be treated by psychiatrist because they would rather believe it is halitosis than a psychiatric disorder. In this report, we described a case of a psychiatric patient (a 64-year-old woman) who understood the necessity of psychiatric treatment and finally accepted it.