The Voices of Psoriasis

The faces and voices of psoriasis. (Photography credits: David Walter Banks, Meenu Bhardwaj, Ken Cedeno, Ryan Collerd, David Eulitt and Shana Sureck for The New York Times)

Many chronic diseases are invisible, taking a toll on the individual but not immediately apparent to outsiders. But the skin condition psoriasis causes obvious changes leading to itchy, scaly skin on the hands, legs, scalp and other body parts. Not only is it painful, but it can also be isolating, because sufferers are embarrassed by their appearance.

Today’s Patient Voices by Karen Barrow focuses on seven men, women and children with psoriasis, a chronic disease of the immune system that appears on the skin, usually as thick, red, scaly patches. Many people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis. According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis.

You’ll meet Christine Morris of Limerick, Pa., who talks about mothering a child with psoriasis. Her 5-year-old daughter, Carly, also is interviewed.

Scott Bell, 45, of Woodstock, Ga., talks about coping with arthritis pain, while Richard Gates, 64, of Federal Way, Wash., talks about his search for alternative remedies.

And you’ll meet Diane Talbert, 50, of Temple Hills, Md., who was quarantined for three months as a child until doctors from the next county diagnosed her with psoriasis.

“It was very heartbreaking,” she says. “I never wore short sleeves. I never wore sheer pantyhose. I didn’t have a lot of friends, because I didn’t want friends. I didn’t want anybody to see me with this disease.”

Ms. Talbert urges fellow sufferers to keep searching for a dermatologist who can help them.

“You don’t have to suffer with psoriasis anymore,” she says. “Make sure you’re getting the right treatment. I went 40 years without the right treatment, and that’s 40 years of my life gone.”

Click here to listen to Patient Voices, and then please join the discussion below.