Maintenant je suis comme je suis. J’essaie de garder un beau sourire. Aussitôt que les gens comprennent notre maladie, il n’y a plus de problème. Il reste toujours une petite gêne mais en général ça va bien. Moi je crois que si les gens ou amis ne comprennent pas, c’est vraiment eux qui ont un problème.

My friends love me for who I am, they support me with this illness. If someone truly loves you, they won't care. It's a part of my life now, and nothing can change that. Millions of people live with this, and we can all handle it with a little support and love.

My social life is very affected since I have this illness.

I am single and was dating, but when my psoriasis started later in life, I stopped dating altogether, I was depressed and embarrassed,my close friends and family were very supportive,but I just withdrew.I wouldn't even visit overnight,having to shovel out the bed in the morning of dead skin cells.I remember staying in a hotel overnight and seeing a trail of skin cells going into the shower, I can just imagine what the housekeeping staff must have thought after I checked out. I have learned how to live with this now, but at the begining it was devistating. Still not dating.

It's not the fact that I have it but more the fact that I'm embarassed by it. I categorize people's reactions in three.
1- Some people find it gross and/or think it's contagious.
2- Some of them sympathize, they either have it or know someone close that has it.
3- The others say It's stress or nerves and think that we are just too lazy to take control over it. They ''laugh'' when we say it's a disease or don't believe us. I've even known some people who said blatantly ''you are just saying that so we should pity you.

I can't approach someone, date or no, easily in fear that they will react like two of those groups for I have seen those reactions so many many times.

I got it just after my 11th birthday so I haven't even had the chance of a normal teenage life. Now I'm nearly a year away from not being a teenager at all and I've had one boyfriend. I'm scared to death of being intimate with a man because I don't want to see that look of disgust that I used to get in gym class before I stopped doing gym altogether. Most of the time I can't even bring myself to lock eyes with a man because I know I'll blush or my hair will move and the plaques on my face will become more visible. I can take the looks and the comments on a normal basis but I know that if something like that happened in an intimate way it would be the only thing that could shatter me.

-I feel embarrassed about it. I'm single and I deliberately avoid invitations from friends to go out. With self-esteem at its lowest, even the most furtive look from someone makes me feel uncomfortable.

- Je me sens embarassée. Je suis célibataire et j'évite délibérément les invations à sortir. L'estime de soi à son plus bas, même le regard le plus furtif posé sur moi me rend inconfortable.

My social life has been a disaster. I had never heard of psoriasis until last year. It started out as a small patch then it spread all over of my body. I never had any kind of skin disorder until I was 35. Now I am having a hard time dealing with this. I've tried everything my dermatologist subscribed to me , none seemed to work. My neck area is getting worse. Going to get my cut hair was embarrassing and painful. I haven't been back in over four months. I've given up trying to persuade the stylist that its not contagious. Now i had a wedding to go in July---i really don't want to go because of this.

When I first got psoriasis I literally had a nervous break down for about 3 years. I honestly have not worn shorts since I was 15 and I am 24 now unless I am home alone, I am single it's not that I don't have confidence but hey how do you go out and meet people unless I have a long sleeve shirt on and pants. I am about 50% covered in this stupid disease and it really sucks I am broke as hell right now so I can't afford to pay 160$ a month for my cream and I am sick of applying it and wrapping myself in saran wrap all night. Try sleeping with it god forbid anyone has to sleep next to me crinkle crinkle all night. I am a student in massage school I graduate in 1 month; going to massage school was the best thing I ever did to get over the embarrassment in class in front of 40 other people. You are laying there naked for everyone to see sure there's judgement but I got over that. I am now a registered aromatherapist and spa practitioner specializing in holistic modalitys. Out of all the natural things I have done I have helped it a bit, but the only thing that works is massive steroid cream for now till the stress of finals goes away. Now my skin is so thin I can tickle myself but hey I can't afford the cream for the past few months cause I have no medical coverage for what I need so till I get out working and making money I am just going to look like a monster.

Thank you, I have been feeling so depressed lately and the stories on this page help me feel not so alone. I haven't been working for about a year but I'm on unemployment so I still have to look for jobs. I feel so discouraged I don't even want a job anymore it's hard for me to get a job anywhere but a fast food place because that's the only experience I have and I can't bring myself to work fast food anymore it just hurts too bad, my hands crack, the customers don't like me because of my psoriasis and I hate it when they ask about it "did you burn yourself?" or "have you been punching something?". I have had people say worse of course :(
I'm trying to start collage soon and I am hopeful about that. I also really want a boyfriend even though I have good friends and family to be there for me but I think most men would be disgusted with me, I'm overweight, I have psoriasis and a leg infection that won't go away. My leg infection seems like a type of psoriasis because it itches and is red and it's stupid because the doctor says I need to keep off my leg and out of the cold but he also says I need to exercise. How am I supposed to go out and exercise if my leg hurts and I'm supposed to stay off it? Sometimes I think I'm going to go crazy especially when I can't sleep from the itching!
In the words of the great Taylor Swift, "Romeo save me I've been feeling so alone, I've been waiting..."

My psoriasis came back when I was 18, and at first people would go "what's that?" and I'd pretend it was nothing. I'm still not O.K. with blabbing to everyone that I have it, or parading my skin in public but I have been lucky in the dating department.

I'm confident in who I am (even with the psoriasis). I had a bf for 6 years when I turned 20, who saw it but didn't mention it, a few months later he asked what it was, I told him, and he could care less. He actually helped me with it a lot. After we broke up, I figured that was it! Lo and behold, I got plenty of dates and then met and am now in a relationship with an amazing boy who also could care less about my skin.

I've come to realize that, if the person cares about you, really loves you, they won't care about what your skin is like. And realistically, you don't want a person around who wouldn't accept you for something like that..would you? I mean, what if one day you get in an accident, or something happens and you are physically changed, you want to know the person you're with is there with you no matter what.

If you're a good person, you'll find that person. If you feel self-conscious about it like I did, don't show off your skin on the first few dates, feel it out, and see how it goes. Then take it from there.

Thanks for sharing some of your comments, it makes it easier knowing that other people share my feelings. I hate that people come to me and tell me it's caused by stress like it's my own fault that I have it, and have all kinds of cures that I should use. I've tried everything. I know that they might think that they're being helpful, but I just get so tired of people talking about me like I'm not even there.

moi le pso a completement détruit ma vie, j'ai honte de montrer mes jambes et mes bras car je ne suis plus capable de subir les regards des gens quant ils voient ma peaux je suis assez seul et me reclus de plus en plus...