Is There a Connection Between Social Anxiety and Psoriasis?

By Susan Navarez

When psoriasis appears, it may trigger feeling of embarrassment, anxiousness and depression in a person. It causes massive resentment in the sufferer, forcing him to isolate himself from the society. The patient begins to feel the pangs of stress and anxiety with the onset of psoriasis and having to avoid the society.

Diagnosis of psoriasis is invariably followed by psychological issues. According to a study published in the International journal of Molecular sciences, 46% of the psoriasis patients were diagnosed with social anxiety while 38% of them were diagnosed with depression.

Although scientists aren't fully aware of the connection between psoriasis and social anxiety, some studies have shown a strong connection between mental health and psoriasis. Psoriasis, which is a common inflammatory and proliferative disease of the skin, is genetically determined. And studies have found that psychological stress can exacerbate the disease.

There is strong clinical proof that stress plays a pivotal role on the onset and exacerbation of psoriasis.  Research conducted on psoriatic patients says 60% of the patients affirmed that stress was a causal factor for their psoriasis.

Psoriasis acts as a double-edged sword. It can lead to stress itself, and in turn, stress can worsen psoriasis. Most Psoriatic patients said that they faced stress and anxiety due to social stigma associated with it and the cosmetic disfigurement resulting from it. It then precipitates their psoriasis.

Another study showed that a person's age during the onset of psoriasis can contribute majorly towards mental health problems such as social anxiety and depression. The study revealed that people developing psoriasis before the age of 18 years experienced social anxiety in context to stigmatization. However, people developing psoriasis after 18 years of age experienced social anxiety in context to the disease affecting their appearance, which in turn, affected their self-worthiness.

How Social Anxiety and Psoriasis Are Interlinked

Social anxiety, also known as social phobia, is a chronic form of anxiety in which social interaction causes overwhelming fear and anxiousness. A person suffering from psoriasis and co-occurring social anxiety tends to avoid social gathering, family or friends due to feeling of embarrassment and shame.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the signs of social anxiety can include:

. Avoiding social gathering

. Fear of being judged

. Feeling of dreaded fear

. Feeling conscious and embarrassed in front of people

. Physical symptoms including accelerated heartbeat, trembling and blushing

. Avoiding eye contact

. Speaking in a very feeble voice

. Fear of interaction with people

According to National Psoriasis Foundation, prolonged stress can lead to severity of psoriasis symptoms and increase the itchiness.

A person enduring psoriasis might find it embarrassing to go to public gatherings due to visible scar. They have the fear about being ridicule by people. By avoiding social gathering for prolonged period of time, the person might develop symptoms of self-isolation, social phobia and depression. This creates a vicious cycle of mental stress and anxiety and can snowball into a bigger issue if not intervened at the right time. It spirals into bouts of mental anxiety until becoming a full-blown psychological case.

Research suggests that psoriasis is an independent disease that occurs on its own, but it has the potential to develop anxiety. Anxiety, in turn, can exacerbate symptoms of psoriasis. The APA defines anxiety as persistent and excessive worries that refuses to go away despite no stressor causing the worry.

How To Manage Emotional Health and When to seek help

People grappling with psoriasis are often actually avoided by people or discriminated in the society. Therefore, educating society about the disease and its psychological consequences on the patients is important. There are therapies that go a long way to deal with it. Intervention programs such as group therapy and family counselling evidently help people suffering from psoriasis in building a supportive network of family and friends and provide motivation.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is another effective therapy to deal with co-occurring psoriasis and mental health issues. It helps to develop positive attitude and better thinking process. CBT also focuses on bringing a change in the behavioural pattern of the patient.

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