Hyperhidrosis and an Anxiety Disorder

Abstract

Mr. Lewinsky is a 29 year-old man suffering from excessive sweating for as long as he can remember. The patient’s general practitioner diagnosed the condition as chronic hyperhidrosis when he was 15. Ever since, he has been treated with several topical drying agents without any benefits. He reports experiencing daily episodes of sweat dripping uncontrollably down his face, palms, and soles. During psychiatric evaluation, he revealed a history of untreated anxiety attacks, which have a temporal relationship with the sweating episodes. The patient disclosed that he had been held at gunpoint in an armed mugging 1 year before the anxiety episodes and uncontrollable sweating began. Any sign of potential danger can trigger the same fear and panic that he experienced during the armed mugging incident.