Are anxiety, dejection and confusion "written all over your face"? Researchers now say that this figure of speech may prove to be true.

A new study has found that stress appears to decrease the skin's ability to function properly, heal wounds and fight disease.

Researchers looked at 27 medical, dental and pharmacy students at the University of California, San Francisco who all had healthy skin. The researchers measured levels of anger, confusion, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and tension on three separate occasions over 8 weeks in 1999, a time period that included two vacations and a week of examinations.

In that time, the investigators repeatedly applied and stripped sticky tape from the students' forearms. The researchers then measured how quickly the participants' skin recovered its ability to essentially "breathe" properly.

The research team found that skin recovery seemed to be directly linked to stress levels -- with high stress during exams associated with the decreased ability of the aggravated skin to return to normal function.

The authors conclude that they have found the first direct link between stress and a decline in the ability of the skin to resume normal functioning after disruption. Aside from recovering from having sticky tape applied and removed from the skin, this link may place a stressed-out individual at greater risk of common skin disease, such as psoriasis or dermatitis, the report indicates.

Archives of Dermatology January 2001;137:53-59, 78-80