Psychosocial stressors in oral lichen planus

Significantly higher stress, anxiety and depression levels were found in the OLP and positive control than the general population. No significant difference was noted between the OLP and the positive controls (in which psychosocial stressors are the sole etiology). These suggest that psychological stressors play an important role in the causation of OLP. It may be further hypothesized that these stressors form a starting point for the initiation of various autoimmune reactions, which have been shown to be contributory to the pathogenesis of OLP. Further longitudinal studies need to be done globally before definitive conclusions can be drawn.