Psoriasis and Stress during the Holidays
Well, it’s that time of year again. As much fun as the holidays are, they can be a stressful time, too. Whether you are dealing with stress at work, such as meeting year-end goals or quotas, or stress at home like how to afford the Christmas or Hanukkah gifts, the period between Thanksgiving and the new year can be especially stressful.
Why does this matter on a site devoted to psoriasis you ask? Because it’s been proven that stress can contribute to exacerbated symptoms of psoriasis. This on top of the cold (and dry) weather setting in, which can also lead to flare-ups. So, what can we do about it to try to reduce the inevitable flare-ups?
Relax.
Easy for me to say, huh? But it’s true. The majority of stress is pressure or anxiety that you place on yourself. Some of the best ways to reduce stress are to exercise, eat right, and get enough sleep. What else can you do? Try not to sweat the small stuff. We all have plenty of reasons to be stressed or anxious, let go of the fact that the jerk in the nice SUV cut you off in traffic this morning, it just doesn’t matter. For more on psoriasis and stress, check out the Mayo Clinic website.
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
This is very true, my major recent flare-up started when the due date of delivering my thesis project was approaching and as the pressure to meet the deadline and finish the project increased, my condition worsened.