Stressing Over A Hurricane

Stress is a six-letter word that can have a big impact on psoriasis. One of the things we are told is to cut the stress out of our lives. What’s the saying we hear all the time?

Stress will make psoriasis flare so you need to learn to stress less. Well, that’s great if you can accomplish it.

However, daily life says that stressing less is so hard to obtain. This past week has taught me a lot in the area of stress. From preparation of an incoming Hurricane to the day of it coming in my direction, my stress level has been off the charts.

Sometimes it’s those life events that bring us the greatest stress. Tell me how we are supposed to not stress given an event such as this? I definitely did not have the amazing breakthrough of such. The state of Louisiana was there with me at that moment.

Preparing for Hurricane Laura

There is only so much preparation that can be done to protect your belongings. Three days before the hurricane was supposed to hit land, I created a list of all the things we would need in case we lost power.

I had to make sure we had such things as food, water, and all medication refilled. You see the weather forecasters were still predicting Hurricane Laura to be a Category 1 where we live. We were on the path to receive a direct hit from Hurricane Laura.

When she made landfall, she was a very strong Category 4. We are 6 hours inland. To say my stress level was very high is not even giving it proper meaning. The closer she got the more my stress level went up and up. The stress level was so high it could have been its own hurricane.

The impact of Hurricane Laura on the area where I live

As my stress level grew, there was nothing more we could do but wait her out. Luckily for our area, Laura shifted just a bit before getting to us.

Please don’t get me wrong. While I was happy on that part, Laura still had a devastating impact on our area.

However, the impact on our area was nothing compared to the impact she had on the coastal towns. We were the lucky ones in that my house still had power, water, and no damage. So many areas suffered severely.

My family is split all over the state of Louisiana. Another reason for my stress level to be high was worrying about my family’s safety during the storm. So why am I telling this story? I know my psoriasis will flare. But hey, we are supposed to stress less right?

The impact of stress on my psoriasis

While I know stress will cause my psoriasis to flare, how do you not stress during a Hurricane? My stress level was really bad.

I was supposed to start a new biologic the day before. You can guess what happened with that. Yep, it got delayed. I was expecting it, to be honest.

However, given the amount of stress I was feeling and not being on treatment, my psoriasis is not going to like me. I can say that is a mutual thing because I do not like my psoriasis either.

I have fought so hard to find a treatment that will work. That fight is still ongoing.

It's impossible not to stress during a time like this

Have you lived through a hurricane? Did your psoriasis spread? What did you do? I hope I never have to experience something like Hurricane Laura again. Is there a better way to deal with it?

Is there something a person can do to lessen the stress during a time like that? I would really love to hear your suggestions. It will be something we can all learn from each other that will make a difficult and stressful time more bearable.