Psoriasis psychosomatics

What psychosomatics says

In psychosomatics, the skin is about contact with other people. Psoriasis is linked to a double separation: you’re drawn to a person, and at the same time you want to pull away from something in that relationship. Two feelings pull in different directions, and your skin lives in both at once.

For example, your daughter marries a man you don’t like. You want her close, and you want that man gone from her life. Or you and your husband live together but have long been strangers: you can’t leave, and staying is hard.

Then shame joins in. You want to hide the plaques under your clothes, you avoid the beach and the pool, and that hurts too. Psychosomatics helps you figure out who you’re drawn to and who you’re pulling away from, and ease that tension.

What it is

With psoriasis, skin cells renew much faster than they should. They don’t have time to shed and build up in layers. That’s how raised red patches with silvery scales appear, called plaques. According to the clinical protocol of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan (2022), they most often appear on the scalp, on the elbows and knees, on the lower back and sacrum.

According to the Russian Ministry of Health clinical guidelines (2023), 1–2% of people have psoriasis. It’s linked to genes and the immune system, so you can’t catch it. It most often starts between 15 and 25 or between 50 and 60, says the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

Psoriasis comes in waves: flare-ups alternate with calm periods. The Kazakhstan Ministry of Health protocol lists infections, especially strep, emotional stress, smoking, excess weight and stopping certain medicines among the triggers of flare-ups. The Russian Ministry of Health guidelines also name emotional strain and alcohol.

Sometimes psoriasis affects the joints. This is psoriatic arthritis: joints hurt, swell, and movement gets stiff. That’s why it’s important to tell your doctor about joint pain right away.

How it shows up

• Red patches with silvery scales
• Plaques on the scalp, elbows, knees, lower back
• Itching, dryness, cracked skin
• Changes in the nails: pits, thickening, lifting
• Pain and swelling in the joints
• Flare-ups after stress, an illness or in the cold season

A dermatologist makes the diagnosis after examining you. If your joints hurt, they’ll refer you to a rheumatologist.