Having a skin disorder can make anyone feel self-conscious. Millions of people in the U.S. suffer from some form of a skin condition, including psoriasis. The skin disorder, which causes itchy, scaly patches to appear over the knees, torso and elbows, can be a real burden for some people. Unfortunately, the National Psoriasis Foundation reports that Black patients with psoriasis are often misdiagnosed because doctors are unfamiliar with how to treat the disease on darker skin. Instead of appearing as red patches, they’ll have violet to grayscale coloring.
Mother and wife, Debra Kent experienced several hardships with her psoriasis diagnosis, including doctors not being familiar with skin conditions present in Black skin. She went through a slew of doctors and medications to help manage her condition.
However, Kent’s situation only got worse after she experienced humiliation and embarrassment from onlookers and doctors alike. Her skin condition made her self-conscious. At one point, she even contemplated suicide.
Luckily, Kent’s family helped her out of the depression. She even found a medical physician who was sympathetic to her situation. Now Kent maintains a positive mindset to help her through the dark times. She’s even encouraged others to do the same.
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Her Skin Disorder Made Her Self-Conscious
In her early thirties, Debra Kent was diagnosed with psoriasis. She started experiencing a whole horde of skin issues, including a flaky scalp. The added stress from her husband’s health issues and their living situation only worsened her psoriasis.
Kent started noticing flaky and purple lesions forming around her elbow and knee joints. She even experienced pain in her joints, which she later discovered was a symptom of psoriatic arthritis.
Kent decided to finally visit a dermatologist. During the appointment, she left her hair in a natural, afro style to make it easier for the doctor to examine her flaky scalp.
However, the physician was too fixated on her “unruly” hair to offer any real treatment options. The dermatologist acted as though she were “diseased.” Unfortunately, the mother and wife experienced the same mistreatment from several other doctors.
When her psoriasis started appearing on visible areas of her body, she often received stares from doctors. Even after her psoriasis cleared