Ep.13 Dealing with the psychological challenges of living with psoriasis with Clinical Psychologist Dr. Andrew Thompson
If you have had psoriasis for more than 5 minutes you will be aware that living with psoriasis can be hard work. There are multiple aspects of the disease that test not only your willpower (yes-itchy plaques I’m looking at you) but also your ability to interact with other people, and sometimes your ability to go outdoors.
The more time I spend in the psoriasis community, the more I realise that psychological support is not optional, but essential. The only thing is, starting down this avenue can be overwhelming and a bit scary.
It’s with this in mind that I invited Clinical Health Psychologist Dr. Andrew Thompson onto the podcast. I hope that your foray into supporting your mental health has a smoother start than mine 🙂
Episode Highlights
- What psychosocial actually means (this helps if you decide to read more about psychology).
- What coping strategies and styles are
- Psoriasis, depression and the burden of disease
- What to do if you feel anxious and/or angry about having psoriasis (plus strategies for getting out into the pool)
- What talking therapy actually is
- The difference between cognitive therapy and
councelling - How to decide which therapy is most appropriate
- The role of mindfulness (backed by academic research!) and other strategies we can use at home
Do you have a child with psoriasis? You can help build improved resources and influence the development of courses to help other parents (and yourself) all you need to do is complete this questionnaire
About Dr. Andrew Thompson
Dr Thompson is a Clinical Health Psychologist based at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust. He is a Reader at the University of Sheffield and a visting Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Hull.
Dr Thompson has published widely on the psychosocial issues associated with skin conditions and is the psychological advisor for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin and is involved with a number of charities. He is also an Associate Editor for The British Journal of Dermatology. Information about the NHS service he is involved in can be found here. Information on his publications can be found here.
You can also find Andrew on Twitter @DrARThompson
Listen Now
You can also listen to this episode (and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode) on iTunes / Stitcher /
If you have a minute, please can you leave a review? It helps us to rank higher in search so more people can find us. Let’s face it- would you type psoriasis into a podcast search? We are not your average podcast 🙂
Resources We Mention
Sheffield Access to Psychological Support : http://iaptsheffield.shsc.nhs.uk
Some recommended free mindfulness resources –
http://www.freemindfulness.org/download
The British Association of Dermatologists Skin support webpages – skinsupport.org.uk
Supporting psoriasis research: One question at a time! Read more (and sign up) for the mindfulness and parenting study here
