New Years Psoriasis Positivity Resolution

This year, I made a New Year's psoriasis resolution: I am choosing to see the positive things to focus on for the upcoming year. I often find myself feeling down after the winter holidays, and this negative feeling frequently goes into the new year. This year, I am changing the way I think.

Positive improvements in psoriasis care

There have been many positive improvements since I started out with psoriasis nearly 30 years ago. Just in the last few years, there have been so many positive forms of therapy.

First, having access to mental and emotional support is amazing! Feelings are a huge part of the disease. Learning to cope with the sadness, depression, loneliness, and anger can feel like a full-time job. The fact that you can now admit your feelings and there are doctors to help you process them helps to change the “shameful” stigma of psoriasis.

Advances in treatment options

With the new forms of drug the world finally sees the disease. I used to feel so ignored when I would ask for medical help. My feelings of, "Okay, well this is psoriasis, and this is what it is, and we can’t do much to help," made me feel abandoned. Looking back, I could feel the doom it left.

Now, we have systemic treatments. As a whole, treatments have gone from topical to systemic, to biologic. Even beyond that, there are targeting treatments. The improvements are so vast. The ability to have a choice is astonishing. Another improvement is having a rheumatologist, dermatologist, and mental health specialists.

My hope and advocacy

My hope for this year is to continue my journey with content here and advocating for medical coverage. I am lucky enough to be able to join forces with others who stand up in Washington, DC, and ask the Senate and Congress to help with funding and lawmaking for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Using my ability to speak up and fight for my peers and my rights means so much to me. Learning to become a voice for others has made me a stronger person. Knowing that we have made the advancements from 30 years ago to now gives me hope to keep going forward.

Focusing on progress, not perfection

Now, I have more reason to keep myself positive. I am not saying that I won't have any down days, but I am saying I will do my best to stay focused on the progress.

My own daily life could use a spin of looking to the bright side. Instead of complaining about taking my drug, I will be glad I have a choice to take a drug. Regular chores of topicals and lotions will be looked at with gratefulness after only using smelly coal tar and pine tar.

When I find myself in a flare, I will look at it as a small setback and not a life sentence. When I am met with pain, I will look to meditate and use my self-made note of what usually works best for me to cope with pain.

Staying present and kind to myself

I recently had doctor's appointments, and the doctor was told about my new way of looking at things. He agreed with my plan but also told me not to forget that I am human. I will remind myself to be kind to me and take life in the moment. Looking too far back can be as upsetting as looking too far forward. Not every day is perfect, but so far I have survived this far.