What' s your opinion of patients with skin diseases?

We basically react with our sight.We are tuned to like the pretty things and shy away from the ugly things.The pretty and ugly are more or less generalized.So you just cannot blame a person who is doesn't like a person with skin infection.It is very natural and you cannot expect everyone with a through knowledge of infectious and non infectious skin conditions.The best they can do is not to show the hatred and disparity on their faces and mind their own business in a decent way.

Hie Runahead, I do agree with dolce_vita that people don't understand and can be very insensitive about it. I did have a personal experience with my dad when we were having lunch at a food stall after a doctor's appointment some time ago. He had some healing shingles on his left side of his neck and hand too, so while we were having lunch, an elderly couple who were sitting on the next table were staring at my dad and the man was giving a hostile look insinuating - "Hey! you shouldn't be out here with that!" And the wife (I assumed) was continuously whispering to the husband and pointing at my dad. But my dad was very understanding and ignored them as he didn't want to create any scene. That was totally rude and very insensitive of them. So how should we treat the patients? I would suggest treat the mind of the public first and patients' family members, relatives, etc. More informations through support group, media, books, flyers, just anything that is relevant. They should be educated on skin problems and sensitivity towards patients' feelings and should not shun the patients but instead help the patients in dealing with the problems. And by all means embrace them as human beings who not only need treatment of medications but also love, acceptance, respect, etc, like anyone else. The word itself 'skin disease' should be addressed as 'skin problem' and it would sound less harmful and accepted to all.

I think that people with skin disease should not really be treated differently with those who have healthy and normal skin. If their skin diseases are contagious, then, they have to be where they should be to avoid infecting other people. I have sub-accute numular contact dermatitis and it was really worse few years back. I must admit that it was hard for me to suffer from such because everytime I had the rashes (which was almost similar to mild psoriasis), people think that they might get infected. From time to time, I would hear people give bad remarks. It's painful to hear them say things that they do not even understand.

after reading your post through,i find that i'm short of such basic knowledges of skin disease.i guess most people are like me. so a good way to decrease such skin discrimination is to do the popularization of particular knowledgement in skin esease area.if people know more about it,they won't be scared and take discrimination actions.

I'm a nurse, well for me i treated him normally to prevent him/her being anxious but with precautions, like wearing mask or gloves to protect myself. we should also tell his/her family to support her/him emotionally because to prevent from being anxious and depression.

the words SUPPORT, UNDERSTAND AND EMPATHY are the best things to do with people suffering from this disease. this people knows if they can transmit the disease so i believed they will not intentionally transfer it to other people. they know their limitations..

Hi runahead . The problem with stigmatizing sick people is hardly limited to skin diseases but people with skin problems are easier to identify by the public . I guess like others pointed out there should be a campaign of public education on various diseases , not on the disease details but the education can be limited to reassuring people that not everything that looks ugly will necessarily jump on them and infect them , remind people that the patient is already conscious of his appearance and is struggling under the weight of his own self criticism , so negative feelings from others could lead to a disaster for some patients for example some patients will shut down and never leave their home while others will develop voilen tendencies and some might harm themselves . But maybe the patiens themselves can do with some training , like for example imagine if all skin doctors train their patients so that when they join any public gathering they intriduce themselves in a manner similar to this : Hello I know you notice the skin affliciton I have , I reassure you it is caused by defect of the body itself and is in no way contagious , so if you don't mind I am going to sit here etc stuff like that or if the patient has something that is actually infectious they can say I assure you I am on treatment for this and it is not in a contagious stage etc I realize that could be tough for patients to say but it would save them a lot of embarassing situations .

My brother who is in his forty's has psoriasis and has had for most of his life has had this reaction himself. He just explains to the person that this is not contagious and although it looks bad no one can catch it from him. Psoriasis runs in our family. My Mom has it. We should treat them with respect. People who have these diseases have feelings too. They can't help it that they have this disease. People ought to grow up.

i am a college student , 20 years old , currently living in China . have u heard of a disease called Leukoplakiavalvae ? I have got that kind of disease since i was born . All these years , i have been seeing doctors and taking medicine , but it turns out my disease is getting worse and worse . some doctors told me it was a skin disease , others defined it as a Gynecopathy. what is worse , they told me my disease is unble to be curable . And they are all quacks , who gave me some vitims and onitment then blew me away . u never immagine how deperate i am , and once i attempted to committ suiside but eventually failed. Doctor , could you please tell me whether any one in your country have cured with that sort of disease?? and how did they cure ? by taking medicine or laser scalpel? i would be grateful if u are able to tell me at your earlier convenience .

we should always remember give empathy not sympathy, somehow his/her feelings boosted up

Always treat others with respect. I would always treat a person with respect with or without skin disease. But let's not forget, we cannot blame the others who react badly when they see people with skin disease. Often times that would be the initial reaction because you don't know if its contagious or not. Just don't react publicly or say anything to the person that would hurt their feelings. If you don't know the person just ignore him/her. If she/he happens to talk to you answer back with respect and take extra precautions. As for those with skin disease you should also take extra precaution. Like maybe covering your skin or putting a jacket on so it won't be noticed and avoid getting extra attention. Don't get embarrassed at all.