Psoriasis Awareness Month: Cara Delevingne says people didn't want to touch her as they thought she had leprosy
Let's begin with the uncomfortable truth: Psoriasis is an autoimmune skin disorder, which results in red, flaky skin and scab -- lots of them. Even though it's hereditary for many, for some, it is caused by stress as well. Supermodel Cara Delevingne is one of them. Imagine being in a fashion industry that thrives on gorgeous skin and hair and is all about makeup and looking good, and then finding out no one wants to touch you because you've got red, patchy skin here and there. "People would put on gloves and not want to touch me because they thought it was, like, leprosy or something," Cara told The Times.
In 2017, she was on top of her game and had eclipsed most of her competition in the industry by landing important ad campaigns and modeling assignments for luxury clothing labels. But Cara was hardly celebrating. She had started to rebel against the profession that gave her fame and recognition. And making matters worse was her psoriasis.
It was during a fashion week that she got one of the episodes of psoriasis. Fashion weeks thrive on pressure situations and tight deadlines, models hardly get downtime between all the traveling and ramp walking, which results in an unimaginable amount of stress.
"It only happened during Fashion Week! Which is, of course, the worst time of the year for me to be covered in scabs. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease, and I'm sensitive. Kate [Moss] saw me before the Louis Vuitton show at 3 a.m., when I was being painted by people to cover the scabs. She said, 'This is horrible! Why is this happening? I need to help you.' She got me a doctor that afternoon; Kate gives really good advice," Cara recalled in one of her W Magazine interviews.
As we celebrate, Psoriasis Awareness month, we must keep in mind that it's healthy to have a conversation around it and that any kind of discrimination arising out of it will not only demotivate the sufferer but may have long-lasting mental health implications on him/ her. It is important that we treat awareness around psoriasis as one of the potent ways to remove any and all stigma around the disorder.