Whether you’ve experienced it or know someone who has, chances are you’ve heard of eczema, a group of disorders that can cause painfully dry, itchy, and inflamed skin. That’s because eczema is extremely common—an estimated 10% of people in the US are impacted by some form of it.
Those who have suffered through severe eczema know that living with the condition can go well beyond the physical side of things. Dealing with unrelenting eczema—the constant pain, the anger at your own body, the stress of trying treatment after treatment, and, ultimately, the stigma tied to visible skin symptoms—is often accompanied by an emotional burden that can trigger the development of anxiety and depression.1
To shed light on what this can really feel like, SELF asked five people to share the emotional side of living with severe eczema—and how they’ve been able to relieve it on some level, even if they’re still working on finding a treatment plan that works for them.
“When it was at its worst, it was incredibly hard for me to deal with the anxious feelings.”
Pam Moore, 43, experienced severe eczema from when she was a toddler until she was in her 30s. If her eczema was acting up in places that were more visible, such as her upper lip, it made her feel a swirl of embarrassment and shame. (She hasn’t experienced an eczema flare in a while and partially credits moving to a cooler, drier climate.)
“When it was at its worst, it was incredibly hard for me to deal with the anxious feelings it would bring up, wondering what other people thought, if it looked like something was really wrong with me, and if I just looked gross,” Moore tells SELF.
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The emotional stress Moore experienced as a result of her eczema symptoms also trickled into other aspects of her life, such as being physically active, which Moore, who is also a certified personal trainer, is especially passionate about.
“Once I was driving to the trailhead to do my long run when I was training for a marathon in my 20s and was so excited to run in new, beautiful scenery. But I remember [feeling so anxious and] distracted because the eczema on the backs of my knees was itching so badly and the heat and the sweat were making it worse.”
To help her get through the feelings of self-consciousness, Moore has tapped into coping tools she has learned in therapy over the years. “One thing I try to remember any time I’m self-conscious of anything related to my appearance is that whatever I’m worried about is absolutely not the most important thing about me,” she says. “I can have the thought ‘I wish X,Y,Z thing about my appearance were different and now I’m moving on’ or ‘I wish X,Y,Z thing about my appearance were different and I’m not focusing on that right now because I am so much more than that one thing about my appearance.’”
“It’s never fun to rearrange my schedule at the last minute for this.”
For Amy Gorin, 40, who was diagnosed with eczema as an infant, her severe eczema has made certain aspects of life that would normally be fun and carefree actually quite stressful.
Source: SELF
