6 Ways to Move Past Anxiety About Dating When You Have Psoriasis

Did you grow up thinking that dating was supposed to be fun? While shows and movies make it seem glamorous, in most cases, it’s more stressful than fabulous. And while dating in the modern era is hard for a lot of people, for people with psoriasis, there can be even more pressure. Here, we’ll cover a few tips and tricks that will help you boost your confidence and lower your dating anxiety.

1. Remind Yourself That You’re Not Alone

When we meet someone new, we spend a lot of time thinking about the kind of impression we want to make. We want to highlight our good qualities and gloss over (or even cover up) the things that make us feel insecure. In fact, we often spend so much of our mental bandwidth worrying about ourselves, that we fail to notice how nervous our date is.

“It’s so important to remember that we tend to think the person we are dating is ‘perfect’ or free of medical or psychological issues,” says Carla Marie Manly, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Sonoma County, California. “In truth, every person has something they don’t like about themselves. And, many people hide conditions—physical, mental, or other—out of fear of being rejected.”