HOW STRESS SHOWS UP ON YOUR SKIN

It disrupts immunity and weakens the skin's defence

- LAKSHANA N. PALAT

Red, angry and painful hives.

Dubai-based Meghan Clarke, a sales professional, knows the unpleasant feeling of an itch coming along whenever she is stressed. Perhaps a looming presentation, or a hurdle in her personal life, and she starts to automatically scratch her hands and legs. Sometimes, eczema strikes too, and she finds the skin peeling off her fingers. "There are days when my life is all about just ointments and band-aids," she says.

Your skin reflects what you feel inside. This complicated relationship between the brain and the skin — known as psychodermatology and psychoneuroimmunology — is the interplay between mind, skin and the nervous system. Simply put, what you feel, tends to show up on your skin.

THE IMPACT OF STRESS ON MENTAL HEALTH

As issues with the skin are so visible to others, it culminates in much psychological distress and humiliation, and finally a withdrawal from social activity and situations. People, like Clarke, often feel embarrassed or ashamed, which can lead to avoiding social situations altogether. Add the physical pain of conditions like eczema or acne, and it's no surprise that many start to withdraw. Left unaddressed, this isolation can spiral into low self-esteem, depression, and even a distorted self-image.

In his extensively researched book, Handbook of Psychodermatology, American professor Mohammed Jafferny elucidates how psychological stress can cause disruption of the immune system, which results in a 'weak' skin defence. It causes inoculation of new pathogens and a reactivation of dormant ones.

He writes, "In recent decades, the connection between stress and dermatological disease has been researched. Skin plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis [a state of balance among all the body systems needed for the body to survive and function correctly when dealing with internal and external stress."