The Feedback Loop Of Stress, Inflammation, And Psoriasis
Stress is a very common cause of psoriasis flareups. The stress causes an inflammation response, and that inflammation triggers a flareup of the psoriasis. The flareup can trigger more stress in you, which then triggers more inflammation, and so on. This becomes a feedback loop, with both the stress and psoriasis becoming progressively worse.
If you have psoriasis, controlling stress is essential. It might not be the only trigger for your psoriasis, but if you can control the stress, you remove a major cause of flareups and help prevent more.
Another Vicious Cycle
The cycle of stress, inflammation, and flareup can continue if you don't feel comfortable dealing with others when you have a flareup. The stress of social rejection is something that everyone experiences from time to time, but if you've had bad experiences with people becoming insulting or staying away from you because of your psoriasis — or even if you have just stayed away from others because you expect them to react badly — the stress can become chronic and lead to yet another cycle of inflammation and flareups.
Facing the Stress in Your Life
If you want to help improve your psoriasis and avoid additional flareups, you know you have to reduce the stress in your life, and that can mean facing it truthfully. When dealing with a stressful situation, decide if you want to accept what you're going through, change the situation, or leave whatever is making you stressed (if possible). This choice can help you gain more control over the situation, leading to reduced stress.
Approaching From the Inflammation Angle
Modifying your diet can help soothe the inflammation response that's driving the flareup, and your diet may help with stress as well. Aim for a balanced diet; a Mediterranean-style diet might help, too. Reducing a psoriasis flareup requires approaching it from multiple angles; all of these work together to give you some relief. Get enough fiber and protein, and also try to reduce the sugary treats you have. That simply helps make more room in your diet for healthy foods and helps reduce the risk of gaining weight from too many calories, which itself can exacerbate psoriasis.
If you're having trouble controlling psoriasis outbreaks, continue to work with your doctor on figuring out triggers and seeing how things like nutrition and stress might influence your health. Psoriasis can be frustrating, but you're not powerless.
Talk to your doctor for more information about psoriasis treatment.