Living With Psoriasis
The individual living with psoriasis soon learns to expect that the disease is anything but predictable. It is also a very irritating disease because it really can ruin your social life, drive you nutty with the intense itching and make you ashamed of your own skin. The symptoms of this skin disease soon become second nature as the patches of red, inflamed skin; with the loose, silver-colored scales become a familiar sight. As if the skin condition were not bad enough those who have psoriasis may also experience disorder of the nails, including discoloration, detachment of the nail from the nail bed or crumbling of the nail. The intense scratching can lead to bleeding where the scratching has irritated the skin to the point of injury. In time, psoriasis can lead to psoriatic arthritis.
Living with your own personal view of what you look like and how the symptoms affect your daily life; you also have to deal with what others think about having to look at your skin when you are having a flare-up of your psoriasis. All of this may just be too much and besides the physical problems of itching and pain you now have to deal with embarrassment, sadness, anger, jealousy, even being mocked or bullied by peers.
Medical appointments for consultations with your doctor or for treatments may mean that you miss out on activities that are fun or have meaning to you like school events, or doing stuff with your friends.
Psoriasis is a chronic (lifelong) disease so there will be the knowledge that this "thing" that you have to deal with, won't go away at anytime. You may experience a remission, but the psoriasis will rear its ugly head again, that you can be assured of.
Individuals with psoriasis are uncomfortable and the skin condition can look disfiguring which makes it difficult to have any normal social life unless your friends are really understanding individuals with lots of compassion.
Events such as a job interview, the prom, wedding, funeral or any other major life event which would normally make someone nervous, excited or feel a deep emotion like sadness over a death in person's without psoriasis such things would lead to sweating palms, upset stomach, or pounding heart but for the psoriasis sufferer these things can lead to a flare-up that will further compound the situation.
Living with psoriasis also means that you are more than likely living with someone else who has psoriasis.
Other individuals may be able to take medications for something as simple as a muscle ache or pain without thinking about what they are doing; but if you take ibuprofen or even a preventative drug like anti-malaria drug you may run the risk of having another flare-up.
If you are one of the lucky 15% of psoriasis sufferers who develop psoriatic arthritis you also get to suffer the pain an uncomfortable issues associated with arthritis such as joint inflammation and the resulting pain.
Psoriasis is not an easy condition to live with and coping requires being patient, seeking proper medical help immediately upon symptoms and seeking out knowledgeable medical staff who will treat you will respect and caring.
