Grief and Psoriasis

At the moment I feel like I am walking on the shards of my broken heart. I have never known grief like this before. Just over a week ago, my Dad passed away. My hero, my first love and the quiet safe voice at the end of the phone. It was sudden and it was shocking beyond measure. I have always seen how people collapse on the floor in movies when receiving such news. I thought it was just acting, turns out, it’s not. It happens. Over the last week, I have had to travel and attend a funeral, which I was not ready for. It has been one of the most testing and emotional times of my life.

The inevitable flare

As we all know, high stress and highly emotional events can have a disastrous effect on our skin and our bodies. I was not quite prepared for what was coming my way. Only a few short hours after I heard, the psoriasis on my face had made an appearance. My eyelids were raw and bright red, as were my cheeks and the sides of my nose. My emotional pain was so hard to bare that I could hardly feel the physical pain. When I had a shower later that night, I noticed that my entire body was grieving with me. My skin had gone crazy.

It took more than a week of intense skin care and treatment to bring my skin under some kind of control, I am still mid flair. I have it boxed in though. It’s not spreading. In times of grief, it is so easy to forget about taking care of yourself. Truly it just seems so much effort. Too much.

Support and help from loved ones

I was very blessed to have my greatest support with me, he came rushing to my side, quietly held me on the floor while I sobbed and after helped me to the bed. I sat and he made me some sweet tea. Having him around was what saved me. He allowed me to do what I could without judgment and helped me to cope with that which I couldn’t. Him being there for me was the single thing that reminded me to take care of myself in between and my skin too.

Taking time to care for yourself

If you find yourself in a space where you are forgetting yourself, allow someone else to be there for you. Let them remind you to rinse the day’s worries under the hot water of the shower. Allow them to bring your creams and help you get to the hard to reach places. Let them help you carry some of the grief. You will be doing yourself a favor.

I am a very strong person by nature and I do not deal well with people telling me what to do and getting up in my face about how I care for my skin. This was the first I had, unbeknown to me, handed the reigns over to someone else. It could be anyone in your life. Just allow them to be there for you. If you are going through a tough time at the moment, take time to care for yourself and your skin and take each day moment by moment. It could be anyone in your life. Just allow them to be there for you. We should be here for each other and allow others to be there for us. With love, care and kindness, we can get through anything.