My name's Liam and I'm a 17 year old from London. I've suffered with psoriasis since I was 11 but only recently had a severe flare up while studying for my A-levels. Psoriasis is an auto-immune disease where your body attacks healthy skin cells. Skin cells are normally replaced every 4 weeks, but in psoriasis this process only takes about 3 to 7 days causing red, flaky, crusty patches of skin.

Psoriasis is genetic disease which my Grandad and Aunty both have. Symptoms are usually very mild but can flare up when triggered by environmental factors such as stress. 

Psoriasis affects around 3% of people in the UK, which is around 1.8 million people, and can happen to anyone at any age. The condition isn't contagious, so it can't be spread from person to person. Unfortunately, there is no cure for psoriasis.

My symptoms started around three months before my exams and very slowly began to spread across my arms. Knowing it was psoriasis I thought the best option for me would be to leave it and wait for it to go away as there is little that can be done to get rid of psoriasis. 

My skin became infected around a month before my exams and began to puss and bleed (very gory) which meant a daily bed sheet change, thanks Mum!! After a very painful weekend I relented and went to the GP. After a week of hospital and GP trips and some strong antibiotics the infection went but the damaged skin was easy pickings and my psoriasis again began to spread down my arms, legs and back.

Though the physical pain did often become bad, it's the mental toll which is the hardest. The barrage of, well meaning, questions and comments at school and sidelong glances do begin to make you feel fairly self conscious with a skin condition. Even the innocent "why is your skin so disgusting?" from a 6 year old can be hard to take. 

For about 5 weeks I didn't go out of the house without a long-sleeve t-shirt and trousers with around 10% of my body red and flaking. It can get pretty hot playing football at the park in 28 degree weather dressed for a Christmas Day family walk!! 

With the support of friends and family, some strong steroid creams to take an edge off the redness and upping my revision to make me less stressed my skin has massively improved. Now the comments at school are all about how much better my skin looks as I show off my new t-shirts which have been hiding in my drawers for a few weeks!

My psoriasis has definitely impacted my mental health, though I try not to show it. However psoriasis can cover more than 80% of you body which would have put me in a really dark place with how self-conscious I got. I consider myself lucky with my psoriasis as I had lots of support and was able to get it under control, but I want to make sure that no one is alone in their condition. 

Therefore I have decided to cycle from London to Paris with my brother in September to raise money for The Psoriasis Association. They are an organisation I have found very useful as they provide information and support for people suffering from psoriasis and all of your donations will go towards helping to continue the amazing work they do.

-Liam

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