The Psychosocial Impact of Psoriasis, a Skin Condition

The Integumentary is a vast organ system composed of exocrine glands, hair, nails, and the most commonly known organ, the skin. As a large system, it can be susceptible to many different types of diseases, one of these diseases are called Psoriasis. This affects a large portion of the Integumentary system, the skin. Psoriasis are considered to be a widespread, common and recurring disease that can be chronic at times. Psoriasis are defined by its appearance of light silver in color, flaky, rash on many parts of the Epidermis.

Imagine what it would be like to live with a disease in which there’s no diagnosis and nobody can even allude to a possible conclusion? John Elder wrote Look Me In The Eye to tell the reader stories of his life, whether it be family struggles or hardships he felt on his own. Through writing, he had hoped to give a reader insight to his life; he wanted to give all people and people with Asperger’s information on a topic to see what it’s like. Elder uses pathos, ethos and logos, along with the use of detail and diction to tie his rhetorical strategies together and to create a story which a reader will remember and learn something valuable from.

An eager interest in the workings and anatomy of the eye has stemmed my interest towards a career in optometry. My fondness for science came from reading the book ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for His Hat', which recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders, this drove my passion past the scope of the curriculum, engaging with ideas independently to follow a career in optometry.

Defining someone by their skin color is an everyday phenomenon. Many people see a specific shade of skin and believe they know exactly how that person is going to speak, carry, and illustrate themselves. It seems to be embedded in one’s head at a young age to have specific views given by family, friends, and coworkers such as, believing interracial relationships are immoral, or it being acceptable to judge others according to their skin color. In the articles “Race is a Four Letter Word” by Teja Arboleda and “Mr. Z” by M. Carl Holman, the color of the authors skin plays a substantial role on how they are treated and perceived. Living in a society that doesn’t understand one’s culture can make their life extremely difficult.

We all have been young, with our parents telling us not to judge a book by its cover. However, we still do. Stereotyping has started to become a huge problem, not just in my hometown but all across the nation. This is happening every day, from someone’s personality to a person’s skin color. Society has put people in groups, and associating certain things, with each type of person. In the story “Brownies,” by, ZZ Packer they judge Troop 909 once they got off the bus off of looks, without thinking about personalities or issues that they might have which brought out the theme of not judging a book by its cover.

In the short story “Flowers and Freckle Cream” by Elizabeth Ellis it is stated, “But to me, her unforgivable sin was that she had flawless peaches and cream complexion. I couldn’t help but compare myself with her and think my life would be different if I had beautiful skin too.” Mary Ellen, the main character is constantly comparing herself

“Psoriasis is a long-term (chronic) skin problem that causes skin cells to grow too quickly, resulting in thick, white silvery, or red patches of skin.” (WebMD, 2012) To uneducated individuals, they may look at a person with Psoriasis and think to stay away from them as it might be contagious. This disorder is not contagious, but it does affect a person with Psoriasis to go through social exclusion and discrimination. A mistaken trigger in the immune system is said to be the one of the causes of rapid production of skin cells in the body. Patients with Psoriasis produce new skin cells between 2-6 days. That is a little over four times less than the time they are normally produced, which is 21-28days. “Psoriasis affects approximately 3% of

Skin disorders can sometimes make a patient feel ashamed to live their everyday lives. Personally, my mom had skin cancer on her forehead, and she felt like she was being judged on a daily basis. In reality, my family and I were her support team to help her become more and more confident. No person should ever be ashamed of who they are. It can be difficult at times, but it is important to learn self acceptance. As medical assistants, we can help provide support to our patients by letting them know we are here to help them. If needed, we can refer a patient to see a specialist, such as a psychologist. A psychologist may be able to teach the patient a variety of coping techniques to help them live their everyday life. Confidence truly is an

The quote describes how Canadian model Winnie Harlow presented herself to the public for the first time. She is a model who has vitiligo, a skin pigmentation which causes the skin to naturally transition from light to dark, or the other way around. Skin conditions are more than what the average human being thinks. They are more than just something on one’s face. People do not know the adversity which people whom have skin conditions have to go through just to be where they are now. Examples of different icons today who express who they are, are: Winnie Harlow, Drew Elliott, Kechi Okwuchi, and a significant character, August Pullman. These people struggled in life as children due to two things. One, being naturally, and the other being from

Unfortunately in our world there is a general idea of how people from certain cultures and/or ethnicities conduct themselves, dress, and look, and these general ideas are why it is so hard for members of our society to look past the “cover” of one’s “book” and begin to read through the pages of their

Imagine a world in which the only way to see was to reach your fingers out and feel. There would be no color to amaze you, no faces to distinguish between, and no facial expressions or body language to clue you in. Blindness is a serious thing that isn’t thought about very often. Glaucoma is a genetic disease that can cause blindness. It affects both old and young people worldwide. While it doesn’t decrease life expectancy, it is a disease that makes it hard or impossible to see that bright, colorful world.

Being a woman this heightens my social awareness as how others perceive me. Society dictates ‘the body beautiful’. Magazines, Bill-boards, TV and newspapers constantly suggest the need to have a perfect complexion. This influences

Red, raised, dry, inflamed, scaly areas on the body and the pitting of the nails describe the common appearance of the pathological disease of psoriasis. Doctors often find it difficult to determine psoriasis because it is very similar to other skin disorders. There are several ways to confirm its medical diagnosis, dermatologist may analyze your skin, nails, and scalp (Langley, 2010). A dermatologist is a specialist trained in skin diseases. If not determined by the naked eye, further investigations are needed to determine the type of psoriasis. It can be tested by a biopsy of the skin which is performed by examining the skin under a microscope, x-rays could determine joint swelling or joint deformity, a blood test to determine arthritis, and medical history.

Quick Write September 12th, chapter 5, What Beauty Sickness Does to Women I included the author's message “when Taffy writes that last sentence explaining how a woman's body is everyone’s business but her own, she means that a women knows the ‘ideals’ or ‘norms’ of a perfect body for a woman and she is constantly changing it or alternating it in order to please everyone around her… it is brought up how one study showed that when college women spent just a few minutes viewing a magazine advertisements that featured idealized images of women, their body shame increased”. My understanding of body image has really changed my perspective because I learned if I am constantly thinking about what others think about my body then I will never be happy. I

“Pay close attention to each student’s individual needs; provide a curriculum similar to that for sighted students; and expect students to integrate into their communities.” (Hall, 2012). There are many different categories of visual impairments that individuals can fall under. People can have low vision, visual acuity, or total blindness along with others. Visual impairment comes in two ways. Friend (2018) claims “Congenital visual impairment refers to a condition that is present at or near the time of birth. An adventitious visual impairment is a condition that is acquired at birth, either in childhood or at some later point in life.” (P. 359). According to Friend (2018), “Visual impairments result when problems exist in the structure or functioning of the eye, when the eye is damaged through illness of injury, or when a neurological problem prevents communication between the brain and the eye.” (P. 360). Friend (2018) found “Retrolental fibroplasia (RFL) is the condition where too much oxygen is placed in the premature incubator where babies are given uncontrolled amounts of oxygen to assist their breathing.” (P. 357). Stevie Wonder became blind through this particular situation. Visual impairment has been around for centuries, but just as the world advances so does the knowledge of visual impairment.