While eczema is a skin condition, it can also affect your mental health and emotional well being. People who experience more moderate to severe flares of atopic dermatitis, have reported suffering from depressive thoughts. In addition, many have people with eczema are embarrassed by their symptoms, so they seclude themselves from group activities, or even, leaving their house. Children are often bullied in school, when flares are severe.
Below are some ways to help you keep eczema from controlling your emotions.
- Take It Slow: Understand that your condition is not likely to get better overnight. Stick to your treatment regimen and be realistic about what results you are going to experience.
- Get Educated: Educate yourself about your condition, so that you can learn to avoid what triggers your eczema flare ups. Being knowledgeable about your condition will help you to handle new symptoms, breakouts and how to care for it properly. It also will help for you to be able to educate others, who hold false beliefs about it being contagious.
- Treatment: Take care of your eczema. Utilize ceramide creams and heavier ointments. Apply your creams at least twice per day. When symptoms are severe, I recommend a four times per day application.
- Reduce Stress: Stress can trigger flares! Reduce stress with deep breathing exercises, Yoga, Pilates, meditation, or any other activity that helps you personally manage your stress.
- Seek Support: Find others, who understand what you are going through, both physically and emotionally. Knowing that you are not the only one, is a great way to help shed a more positive light on your condition. There is strength in numbers and it helps to know that you are not alone.
- Get Your Sleep: A lack of sleep can be stressful, draining and exhausting. Make sure to get an adequate amount of sleep each night. Remember that too much sleep can be equally detrimental to a productive day and rested feeling.
- Seek Professional Help: Seek professional help if you are unable to ward off depressing thoughts. A physician will be able to prescribe medications and/or other treatment ideas to help manage depressing thoughts.
