A deep thought

[Lostsoul]

How have you managed to deal with having psoriais mentally? I don't think anyone really questions this or how you cope everyday? So I would like to ask.

What does it feel like having psoriais?

[Fred]

For me it depends on how it is, at the moment it's driving me nuts but had I have answered a few months ago I would have said it doesn't bother me.

Psoriasis is known to affect people immensely, and unfortunately in some cases can lead to severe depression or worse.  

I have had moments in tears, I have had moments of forgetting I even had it. But after 35 years I know the bugger is always waiting behind you just to creep up and ruin your life, it's always going to be there no matter what you hear it will never be gone for ever.

As for what it feels like to have psoriasis it's embarrassing, degrading, painful, distressing, debilitating, life changing, it's so many things but fun it aint.

There are some threads on here that show how bad it can be where some are going through hell with it and have put it down in words, this old one brought over from the old forum is an eye opener. The Hidden Enemy but there are more.

[Brighteyes]

There have been times in my deepest, darkest past when I have self medicated on alcohol and even contemplated suicide.
In my own case, psoriasis and the associated constant pain stripped away my hope, dignity and life. I can never forget the day when my son managed to put his elbow through a window pane during a game of hide and seek with his siblings. He was screaming upstairs and I could not walk so I had to crawl inch by inch to get to him.
This came only a week after my 7 year old daughter ( on a visitation weekend ) had fallen up the stairs and cut her lip.
Luckily my sons cut, though bleeding profusely, was not serious but what the whole situation took from me was more than energy. I sank into serious depression, believing that I was no longer capable of looking after my own children, I couldn't keep them safe and I remember begging my O/H to leave me and take our son with him.
He refused and thank god he did because I truly believe I would have had no excuse not to carry on.

[jiml]

To be honest I never dealt with psoriasis well until the last few years . For me it was something I was ashamed of.
I developed it at a bad time in life when I was 17 and had been enjoying life and having girlfriends. As soon as it got bad I retreated into my shell and covered up as much as possible.
I felt and I suppose behaved like a leper.....
I became an introvert I hated the disease and sometimes I could get clear and at these times, before I got married I used to go wild .. Not knowing when it would return ...
I was lucky to meet my wife who was not worried about psoriasis so life got better. But I would not uncover even my arms in front of friends.
Most work colleagues were unaware as I covered it well with odd outbreaks around my hairline.

I have never been comfortable with it, even now although virtually clear I live in the fear that it will return ..
But I am a lot happier in my skin now... And I think a bit less introverted (is that a word)

[Kat]

I know that I wouldn't have dealt with it very well had I experienced psoriasis at an earlier age.

I did (and do) deal with embarrassment. I could keep most of my psoriasis covered, the places on my face I could cover with make up and my ears (which looked awful) I tried to just keep covered with my hair. Clothing covered the rest. What I couldn't hide was the scaling from the scalp psoriasis. I was extremely self conscious over it and just tried wearing colors that it wouldn't show up as bad on and constantly brushing off my shoulders when I could if out in public.

Plus the constant itching and the burning (at first) was horrible. It affected my sleep and just made me feel miserable as you all know and that can make it hard to stay positive.

For me, finding The Psoriasis Club helped me tremendously during that time. It gave me hope hearing how others were clear or mostly clear from different treatments and also people to chat with that just knew how it felt. So it didn't really get me down, or perhaps it's more accurate to say the people here kept me from getting down.

I don't have psoriatic arthritis so my movement wasn't affected (at least not from this, but that's another story)

[Lostsoul]

Thank you sharing, I'm finding it really helpful that I can relate to you all in different ways.
I was in and out of hospital from the age of 6-14, through school and college I struggled with friendships. Which is probably why I have no friends at all. At the age of 19- 20 my psoriais changed within two weeks I was covered from head to toe with plaque. Now I'm 23 with a baby I more scared than ever of how I'm going to cope. It's slowly creeping back into my life with the small spots and white scale on top. At night is the hardest when you itch yourself and you bleed,burn and swells. I'm using different steriods that the doctor keep throwing at me I burn my normal skin.

In another way I've had the positive side of not having to be embarrassed of having psoriais as I was lucky to have my mum who had to deal with it too and I have a partner who didn't think twice about being with me. On the other hand my mum has clear skin and my partner can't relate to how I feel.

[Grizzly Bear]

Well, for myself, the main thing i find is that when i am out shopping & go to the checkout, 95% of the time the person on the till looks at my paws hands as i put shopping into bags & i can see them looking at me as if i had gotten a day release from an experimental chemical plant with some horrible mutating disease !

I'm very conscious of this & it does wear me down but i try to think of something else to take my mind of it. (no, nothing rude you lot !!! )

Now, i know 99% of us P sufferers  like to get as much sun as possible on our P areas but me, i hate the heat & the sun.

I wear a long sleeved cotton t-shirt during the summer because i don't want every Tom, Dick & Harry staring at me & thinking, "is he contagious, will i catch what he's got etc etc " )

Also, it drives me mad & gets me down that i scratch so badly that my bed in the morning looks like i had vampires visiting me during the night.

All my bedding is 100% cotton but it is a right pain in the posterior to get the blood out !!!!

But, like some on here comment, "why are you so jolly on here GB ? " etc etc. well, it's a way of fighting this horrible disease & trying hard to perk up not only my moral, but others on here too.

I could go on but you all might fall asleep with boredom with all my drivel that i write !



Happy Scratching Everyone


GB

[Fred]

Which is probably why I have no friends at all.

We're your friends.  

Like Grizzly just said try and find something to take your mind off it, even a few minutes will help. But pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease don't follow his approach and leave glitter everywhere, it's worse than psoriasis flakes to get out of the carpet.