In our previous post, we discussed that a caring and experienced doctor may help you a great deal in making it easier to live with psoriasis. But, the doctor alone can’t do it for you.
Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune skin condition that needs a long term commitment to regain the body-mind-soul balance and calm down the immune system to reverse the psoriasis symptoms.
It requires consistent efforts to heal the body (primarily the gut health) and the mind (emotional health).
Hence, until you take the responsibility in own hands, you don’t stand a chance for long term, stable improvement in psoriasis.
Acceptance is the first step towards psoriasis healing
Now that you have decided to take the charge of your skin health, acceptance is the first step as you kick off the incredible journey of psoriasis healing.
It means to accept the reality that you are dealing with a chronic and stubborn skin issue and you are not going to remain in the state of denial anymore.
Also, being a non-communicable skin condition which is not caused by poor hygiene, there is nothing to be shamed of.
Acceptance means that you are done with denying the problem or feeling guilt or shame about it.
It means that you are going to do whatever you can to improve the skin condition in a safe manner but at the same time, not going to let psoriasis control your life or dictate your life choices anymore.
It means to understand the fact that you are defined by all the wonderful qualities and personality traits that you posses and not the psoriasis which is a just a small part of your existence.
In short, acceptance means to develop a rational and positive mindset towards psoriasis without aggravating the things.
Isn’t it a defeatist mind?
Not at all.
I am not saying to give up or to quit.
I am just requesting you to stop making a monster out of this small challenge, called psoriasis.
I am just requesting not to waste your energy in hiding or denying the reality. Instead, channelize that precious time and energy in actual healing.
Acceptance is the antidote to poor body-image
Living with psoriasis often leads to poor body image and low self esteem.
- It’s quite frustrating if you have to live with a visible skin condition that does not have a cure.
- The stubborn, non predictable nature of psoriasis doesn’t help either when it causes sudden flare ups out of nowhere.
- The lack of awareness and acceptance among the masses brings in discrimination and rejection.
All these factors make a perfect recipe for psychological burden in the form of low self-worth and you may not feel good about yourself.
Psoriasis flare ups cause poor body image which turns on the stress button to worsen the psoriasis symptoms further.
It becomes a vicious cycle where you feel trapped with no exit in sight. Right?
Your body (the immune system) is already attacking you and now, the mind (the negative thoughts) has also started punishing you. So, how to stop this two-way attack?
The answer is acceptance.
When you accept the present day condition of your skin without getting too emotional, the negative thoughts start losing their power.
When you decide to keep your head up and make sincere efforts for improvement rather than blaming yourself or everything around, you are starving the negative thoughts and they will die their natural death sooner than later.
It will help unburden yourself of the unnecessary emotional baggage that you have been carrying so long.
Less stress >> Better skin health
Things will start improving in your life, gradually but surely.
With acceptance as a weapon in your arsenal, you would remain calm and emotionally stable during those bad days of psoriasis flare ups and the damage would be far less.
Self-acceptance vs Self-improvement
As explained earlier, acceptance means making peace with the way you are right now and making efforts for improvement in the future. It means, I am happy with the things I have today and at the same time, I want my future full of success and accomplishments.
Hence, self acceptance and self-improvement goes together.
If you focus too much self-improvement, it may disturb the peace of mind which would be counter-productive.
Let me explain with an example.
Suppose, you believe that the present day skin health is badly messed up and it needs some serious improvement at the earliest. You practice tremendous discipline and follow all the treatment rules.
But, this desperation for improvement makes you impatient and you start analyzing on a daily basis if the psoriasis spots are improving or not?
If there is some improvement, you are in the seventh heaven; extremely happy. And, the next day, if there is no improvement or may be some flare up, you feel sad and depressed.
Does it sound a good scenario?
Not at all!
You simply can’t allow the life to revolve around psoriasis and its treatment. You have far more important things in your life to focus on.
Hence, the obsession for self-improvement should be avoided because it exerts an unwanted pressure of performance.
The lesson to be learnt here is- self-acceptance is the foundation of self-improvement and you cannot ignore or bypass it if you are really serious about becoming a better version of yourself.
- “I am pretty bad at the moment, but I will work hard and become better in the future” – Wrong.
- “I am good, I am enough and yes, I will further improve myself in the future” – Right.
In our next post, we will discuss some time-tested tips and ideas that people with psoriasis have practiced to bring acceptance and emotional stability in life.
I would love this to me be me! I think about it frequently,,,, but acceptance seems so far away for me right now..,