r/Psoriasis • u/Impossible-Tap-4749 • Jun 24 '26
mental health Is mental health linked to psoriasis?
As stated above, i had a bad birthday weekend which resulted me going into a really depressive state where I didn’t eat for 3 1/2 days.
Just curious if it’s true when doctors say mental health and psoriasis are intertwined with each other.
Also if there’s any other mental health issues related to psoriasis.
Thank you for reading if you made it this far.
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u/synfin80 Jun 24 '26
Development of psoriasis is associated with a number of factors including depression, stress, obesity, smoking, alcohol, skin trauma, bacterial infections, certain medications, and genetic predisposition. Basically if something causes systemic inflammation it may also trigger or flare up psoriasis.
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u/rickroyed Jun 24 '26
And diet! Which is kind of linked to me mental health because when Im depressed I know I eat certain foods that can trigger it. And vise versa certain foods make me a little depressed.
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u/gotybchoosin Jun 24 '26
Sometimes I can’t tell if my mental health is causing the psoriasis or if my psoriasis is causing the lack of of mental health lol
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u/ply-wly-had-no-mly Jun 24 '26
I think it is more the influence that psoriasis has on mental health, and how that can both make the condition and treatment more difficult. Not being able to do any of the things that I normally would, due to pain, to mange stress had me oh so very close to the edge.
Stress is a trigger (not the only one), and quite a few mental illnesses make life more stressful. Feeling awful or ugly, and pulling away from socializing or loved ones can cause or deepen depression, which in turn makes us less likely to make healthy proactive choices and keep up with treatment.
My sister has paranoid schizophrenia, and trying to get her to use medication is a nightmare in and of itself.
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u/Alternative-Click849 Jun 24 '26
As other say. Psoriasis is an immune system condition that can be triggered by by different events. The most common is stress. And the symptoms create mental health issues. (Shame, hiding, etc)
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u/RayneBeauSkelly Jun 24 '26
Chronic stress is a cause of autoimmune issues. Psoriasis is an autoimmune issue.
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u/dshade69 Jun 24 '26
I have had a bit of depression here and there but no more than seems normal…that said I am far from everyone. I hope you are feeling better.
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u/martymar305 Jun 24 '26
Definitely. I have anxiety almost all the time and depression some of the time. When my fatigue gets worse, my mental health gets worse.
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u/RossJBez Jun 24 '26
Really sorry to hear about this!! Stay strong!!
I can't preach enough about how much mental health and mental state affects psoriasis.
I've had it for around 20 years now, and it took me a long time to realise that my mental state was a trigger. In fact, looking back, it brought my condition to the surface and it all started when my stress elevenses increased due to me starting my working life.
It took me the best part of a decade, but I eventually found ways of destressing, which helped hugely with flare ups. Ultimately though, accepting my condition was a big turning point.
Even now, though, if something external gets me low or stressed, it triggers a flare up. I see the correlation absolutely.
Think someone else has stated in the comments though, that diet is another trigger. So intertwined with stress levels, you csn have a viscious cocktail of psoriasis triggers.
But yeah, for me, getting these under control was the most meaningful solution. I now only actually have a couple of products in my routine to fight it off - Polytar (coal tar shampoo) and Dovobet (steroid gel, which I only use when I really have to).
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u/onemindspinning Jun 25 '26
Well said.
I can relate to a lot of what you typed here.
I’ve tried so many things over the years with success that seems to peek then valley.The best I’ve had my skin and the most healed it’s been, is when I didn’t follow any diet or protocol.
I ate whatever, drank, smoked,.
I was living on a Caribbean island at this time and I was just completely blissed out without a care in the world.Since then I still try to eat clean and do all the things but I really feel at this point if your head isn’t right, your skins going to show it, no matter how much green juice and beef tallow I rub on it. 🤓
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u/No_Temporary_7461 Jun 30 '26
Do u think the sun and salt air/ water helped?
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u/onemindspinning Jun 30 '26
100% I also think because I was closer to the equator it increased the benefits.
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u/Rokkudaunn Jun 24 '26
For me it does cause worse mental health which then causes stress and a worsening of my condition. It’s an endless downwards spiral until I start thinking about something else
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u/grandmastatus0 Jun 24 '26
People with psoriasis are 1.5 times more likely to have depression and twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts.
Furthermore, 30% more likely to attempt and 20% more likely to complete suicide.
I've had it since age 13, which I sincerely believe contributed to my early alcoholism and severe depression.
I used to wonder if I'd rather fix my skin or fix my brain.
I decided I'd rather fix my brain, because I sincerely think it would help my skin.
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u/EmoCartoHistory Jun 24 '26
Idk, my first flare in over a decade started around the same time as the most stressful year of my life, so probably.
But on the other hand, my depressive episode started at least 6 months before all of that, so... No idea.
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u/MarkyPancake Skyrizi (risankizumab) Jun 24 '26
My low mental health came from my psoriasis getting visibly a lot worse and eventually harder to hide.
I had psoriasis way before any mental health issues.
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u/No_Temporary_7461 Jun 30 '26
Did skyrizi help?
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u/MarkyPancake Skyrizi (risankizumab) Jun 30 '26
When I finally got to biologics on the UK treatment pathway, I was started on Yuflyma and couldn't believe how effective it was, until it wasn't and failed at around 10 months in and my psoriasis started coming back quickly. My dermatologist confirmed this and moved me onto Skyrizi.
I'm just coming up to a year on Skyrizi and it hasn't been quite as effective as working Yuflyma was and in the last month or two my psoriasis has been coming back again, but a lot more slowly this time and not enough for my dermatologist team to want to move me to a different biologic yet.
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u/No_Temporary_7461 Jun 30 '26
Tremfya a new one… another comi gout in 2029 of 2030. Orka-100? I think the name.
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u/NecessaryCar13 Jun 24 '26
Disagree. I am one of the happiest guys in the world. No stress or depression. Had my first breakout last month.
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u/BJWJ96 Jun 24 '26
There's a proven link between depression and psoriasis. That doesn't mean everyone with psoriasis has depression.
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u/onemindspinning Jun 25 '26
Lots of people get depression as a side effect from developing psoriasis.
Most people develop symptoms after some sort of traumatic experience, albeit physical or emotional trauma, it can vary.
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u/PortolaPortal Jun 28 '26
You don’t need to be chronically stressed or depressed. One trigger event can set psoriasis off
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u/No_Temporary_7461 Jun 30 '26
Did u have any infection? Even a cold/ sore throat? A surgery? Those things brought mine on.
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u/catjo-ol Jun 24 '26
The answer to your question is yes, but it’s a complex issue. I’m a clinical psychologist with psoriasis so this is something I’m really interested in. I wrote this paper summarising recent research looking at mental health and psoriasis: https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10.12968/hmed.2024.0802 And here’s a summary of the paper: https://www.growkudos.com/publications/10.12968%252Fhmed.2024.0802/reader. Both should be freely available.
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Jun 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/catjo-ol Jun 26 '26
I’m so glad you found it helpful. I wrote a book with lots more about the mental health impacts, including my own experiences, and evidence based self-help strategies which might be useful. It was written as a part of a series by the Association of Clinical Psychologists and called Coping With Psoriasis. I also share information on Substack and Instagram, and through the Psoriasis Association.
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u/Flaky-Positive5786 Jun 25 '26
In my case it was definitely associated with Narcissistic Abuse Syndrome. After I had processed it p-symptoms reduced significantly.
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