Why your lack of confidence is more debilitating than your psoriasis
If psoriasis was just a physical problem, that would be bad enough. However, all sufferers know that it goes way beyond that. Psoriasis is something that the victim can constantly see. They are also aware that it can be seen by others. This, inevitably affects the sufferer’s mental state.
Having a negative self-image is a double-edged sword. Firstly (and most obviously), lack of confidence is immediately apparent to other people. They may well will be aware of this long before they notice you have a skin condition. Secondly, a negative self-image can lead to having a jaundiced view of the wider world and the people that inhabit it. Negativity can creep into every aspect of your persona so not only do you appear lacking in confidence, you aren’t much fun to be around either. It becomes harder to bond with anyone and you find yourself in a spiral of mutual rejection with other people.
Do you think like this…?
But for many sufferers, there is an almost complete unawareness of how the disease is making them come across to people. Sufferers think “I have psoriasis, so I am essentially not good enough and people don’t like me very much”. Most people don’t care that much about your psoriasis. They are usually too wrapped up in the things that bother them about their own physicality, or whatever they don’t like about themselves. Almost everybody feels they have something wrong with them and it is very difficult to be objective about the condition that affects you. Your psoriasis may well be seen as just a few patches of sore and flaky skin, to someone who does not have the disease. Nothing much to worry about, really.
But lack of confidence is something that everybody can see and understand, because everybody suffers from that, to some degree – even those who overcome it, or manage to mask it more successfully than others. A confident person with psoriasis will have far more success in their relationships and dealings with other people than someone who has no psoriasis and no confidence.
Don’t just assume that if you were to wake up with permanently clear skin, tomorrow morning, that you will immediately be a confident and outgoing person, ready to start living life again. Confidence needs to be worked at and there is no guarantee that psoriasis is the only issue you will need to deal with, throughout your life.
Talk about your psoriasis
Don’t hide away. Talk to people about your condition and how it makes you feel, but do it in a positive way, focusing on how you are trying to tackle it. This shows confidence and is attractive to other people. Walking around with your head bowed, avoiding eye-contact and just looking like you wish that a big hole would open up in the ground so you could jump in and hide will repel people much more than your skin condition.
Psoriasis is an appalling illness to have to deal with. It hurts like hell and you can feel that you are just a bunch of walking scabs with a human being underneath there somewhere. Non-sufferers won’t see it like that though. It can be incredibly annoying when they don’t appear to take the condition seriously, but this flippant attitude to what you are suffering from has a positive aspect, as well – it means they don’t see you as a pariah.
Someone who totally lacks confidence will always be left out in the cold though. Nobody wants to be around someone like that, unless they are just looking to take advantage of them. We all learned this in the school playground and not a great deal changes, when we reach adulthood.
Fighting psoriasis is a huge battle, but do not be a hostage to the disease. You only have one life and if you spend all of it completely lacking in confidence, then it is a life that is basically not being lived.
