{"id":32341,"date":"2026-08-08T11:29:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32341"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:29:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:29:44","slug":"3-ways-psoriasis-can-affect-your-social-life-and-how-to-cope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32341","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways Psoriasis Can Affect Your Social Life\u2014and How to Cope"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>If you\u2019re one of the roughly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psoriasis.org\/psoriasis-statistics\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">8 million people<\/a> in the U.S. living with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glamour.com\/about\/live-well-psoriasis\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">psoriasis<\/a>, you know that flare-ups aren\u2019t just itchy, painful, or both. They can also have a significant impact on your psychological well-being. This is especially true if you tend to avoid social situations to hide your skin, which can be particularly isolating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople often think of psoriasis as a skin condition, but it\u2019s much more than that, affecting people\u2019s mental health and their quality of life,\u201d says <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/copingwithpsoriasis.com\/?utm_source=ig&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=link_in_bio&amp;fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGno0vTXZpJFGeBilIXqzRw7X5b_8brpqhHTvB-uVs8SnsWa5larIzARa_2b94_aem_dM3iSOqiEuMhLUcIfnscxw\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/copingwithpsoriasis.com\/?utm_source=ig&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=link_in_bio&amp;fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGno0vTXZpJFGeBilIXqzRw7X5b_8brpqhHTvB-uVs8SnsWa5larIzARa_2b94_aem_dM3iSOqiEuMhLUcIfnscxw&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/copingwithpsoriasis.com\/?utm_source=ig&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=link_in_bio&amp;fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGno0vTXZpJFGeBilIXqzRw7X5b_8brpqhHTvB-uVs8SnsWa5larIzARa_2b94_aem_dM3iSOqiEuMhLUcIfnscxw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Catherine O\u2019Leary<\/a>, PhD, a clinical psychologist and the author of <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Coping-Psoriasis-Catherine-OLeary\/dp\/1914110366\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Coping-Psoriasis-Catherine-OLeary\/dp\/1914110366&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Coping-Psoriasis-Catherine-OLeary\/dp\/1914110366\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-aps-asin=\"1914110366\" data-aps-asc-tag=\"glamour0d7-20\"><em>Coping With Psoriasis: Understanding and Navigating the Emotional Challenges<\/em><\/a>. She knows the struggle all too well\u2014her book draws from her own experience navigating severe psoriasis since childhood as a teenager. \u201cI used to do my best to hide my skin and the distress I was feeling, and that meant I missed out on a lot,\u201d she says. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t go away with friends if I had to share a room or bathroom. I would never do anything that involved a swimsuit, including lying by the hotel pool with everyone else on vacation. I would turn down invitations to outdoor summer parties because choosing an outfit [to cover my plaques] would be too stressful. Over the years it had a big impact on my social life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Dr. O\u2019Leary got older she found ways to feel more at ease with her psoriasis. \u201cMy younger self would not have believed <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drcatherineoleary\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drcatherineoleary\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drcatherineoleary\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">how confident I am now<\/a> with showing my skin. This hasn\u2019t happened overnight, and there are still times when it feels hard. But I now have a toolbox of different strategies that help me cope.\u201d Today, as a clinician and author, she helps other people with psoriasis work through issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, and social challenges using many of those same strategies so they can participate in life more fully. The best part is she\u2019s sharing them with <em>Glamour<\/em> too.<\/p>\n<p>Read on to learn how to overcome some of the most common social challenges among people with psoriasis.<\/p>\n<h2>The challenge: You feel like everyone is judging you.<\/h2>\n<p>There are some prevailing <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.globalpsoriasisatlas.org\/en\/resources\/articles\/article-common-misconceptions-about-psoriasis\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.globalpsoriasisatlas.org\/en\/resources\/articles\/article-common-misconceptions-about-psoriasis&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globalpsoriasisatlas.org\/en\/resources\/articles\/article-common-misconceptions-about-psoriasis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">myths<\/a> and misconceptions about psoriasis, including that it\u2019s a contagious skin disease or a result of poor hygiene. So when someone with psoriasis walks into a room, it\u2019s only natural that they might wonder, What if people are thinking these ridiculous things about <em>me<\/em>? \u201cOur minds can go into overdrive, and we imagine that everyone is looking and judging us,\u201d Dr. O\u2019Leary says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to cope:<\/strong> An experienced therapist can help you develop ways to break negative thought patterns like these, which can feed social anxiety; Dr. O\u2019Leary recommends finding a practitioner that specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a treatment <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31696748\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">research suggests<\/a> can help improve anxiety and depression symptoms associated with psoriasis (and potentially even reduce skin flare-ups as a result).<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have access to CBT or can\u2019t get an appointment right away, Dr. O\u2019Leary says to practice catching yourself when your thoughts begin to escalate. \u201cThoughts like \u2018Everyone is looking at my skin and judging me\u2019 can quickly lead to me feeling bad about myself,\u201d she says. \u201cInstead I try to be aware of my thinking and spot when I\u2019m jumping to conclusions, catastrophizing, or trying to mind-read. I remind myself that just because I think something doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the truth, and there may be more balanced ways of thinking about a situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The challenge: Intimacy is intimidating.<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.glamour.com\/video\/watch\/dating-with-psoriasis\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Dating with psoriasis<\/a> can bring about its own set of difficulties. Some people may avoid pursuing intimacy because they dread someone seeing and <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/skin-problems-and-treatments\/psoriasis\/psoriasis-stay-connected\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/skin-problems-and-treatments\/psoriasis\/psoriasis-stay-connected&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/skin-problems-and-treatments\/psoriasis\/psoriasis-stay-connected\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">touching<\/a> their skin. Complicating matters is the fact that for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psoriasis.org\/genitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">up to 63%<\/a> of individuals with psoriasis, the condition also impacts the genital area, which can cause <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.mypsoriasisteam.com\/resources\/genital-psoriasis\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.mypsoriasisteam.com\/resources\/genital-psoriasis&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mypsoriasisteam.com\/resources\/genital-psoriasis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">itching, pain<\/a>, and feelings of shame, not to mention necessitate conversations about flare-ups not being symptoms of a sexually transmitted disease. Because of challenges like these, <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/copingwithpsoriasis.substack.com\/p\/genital-psoriasis\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/copingwithpsoriasis.substack.com\/p\/genital-psoriasis&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/copingwithpsoriasis.substack.com\/p\/genital-psoriasis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">genital psoriasis<\/a> is linked to higher rates of depression, relationship challenges, and sexual dysfunction, according to Dr. O\u2019Leary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re one of the roughly 8 million people in the U.S. living with psoriasis, you know that flare-ups aren\u2019t just itchy, painful, or both. They can also have a significant impact on your psychological well-being. This is especially true if you tend to avoid social situations to hide your skin, which can be particularly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.glamour.com\/photos\/6a749c03a732d97d3726367c\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/women%20at%20dinner.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}