#BoardCertifiedDermatologist #Dermatology #Seborrhea #SeborrheicDermatitis #AlopeciaAreata #Shingles #HerpesSimplex #CheongdamANZDermatology #DrChoYoungmin #GangnamguOfficeStationDermatology

When people hear 'skin disease,' they tend to think only of things like redness and itching..

But a disease of the mind, all of a sudden...!!!!

Disease of the mind = stress

It is the one that all of you must have guessed.

Office workers mostly suffer from stress about people (bosses) and relationships and stress about work, self-employed people from stress about their business, and parents from parenting stress, among others.

Today I would like to introduce the skin conditions that mostly appear when you are in a state where your mind is not at ease like this.

When stress reaches a level that a person cannot handle,

The immune cells of our body begin to show abnormal reactions.

Cases occur where function drops absurdly, or where the body attacks its own cells that it should not attack.

In addition, hormonal changes occur, which can also lead to problems such as excessive sebum secretion.

The First Mind-Related Illness

It is none other than alopecia areata.

According to research papers, stress is said to account for about 50% of the causes, but in actual clinical practice it seems to be over 90%.

Because alopecia areata has a large visual impact, the very act of looking at it causes even greater stress, and you fall into a vicious cycle that is hard to escape.

The immune cells attack the area around my hair follicles, which they should not touch, and alopecia areata occurs, and

Fortunately, it does not cause permanent hair loss; once the stress is relieved or the immune cells stop attacking, the hair grows back.

Treatment usually aims to calm the inflammation, using injections or topical medications, and in severe cases even oral medication.

Let me say it again: unless the troubled state of my mind changes, the effect of medication will remain temporary or minimal.

I hope you will meet a doctor who treats your mind along with your skin, and I want you to know that the door of my office is always open.

The Second Mind-Related Illness

It is seborrheic dermatitis.

It is known to be caused by an excessive reaction to certain bacteria due to an abnormal immune system, and it originates from stress.

Itching, flaking, and pimples appear around the face, scalp, and hairline. Symptoms aside, when the flaking is severe, it additionally causes visual stress, just like alopecia areata.

Various treatments are described on the internet, but in actual practice, the response to treatment seems to be even poorer than in alopecia areata.

Since there were only overly severe photos, I decided not to attach them...

Because it is a chronic condition, most patients are well aware of their disease, but

Few people recognize that stress is the biggest cause and try to do something about it.

Medication should of course be used alongside, but the reason I deliberately included seborrheic dermatitis among the three mind-related illnesses is

Because you only get better if you treat the mind. (In fact, it is not only these three; stress acts as a triggering cause in most skin diseases.)

As long-term use of steroids, even in medication form, causes side effects, please be sure to consult an experienced doctor.

Lastly

They are herpes simplex and shingles.

I wrote a post about shingles a few days ago.

Simply put, you can think of every virus-related disease as being connected to your own immunity.

When body and mind are at ease, my immune system works normally and easily withstands attacks by viruses, but

When you are physically and mentally exhausted from excessive stress, you lose the fight against viruses.

The most heartbreaking moment when treating mind-related illnesses is

the patient who is currently suffering from the illness, by themselves,

They do not even realize that they are suffering from stress.

I cannot tell whether it is because life is truly so busy that they do not realize it, or because it is simply their daily routine and they do not think of it as stress, but

even though, to my eyes, they are carrying a huge lump of stress on their back,

When I see people who say, 'No? I don't have any stress?'

My heart feels very heavy.

If even one of the people reading this post shares how I feel,

Please try setting aside even 5 minutes a day to close your eyes and meditate.

Hating someone only makes the most precious person in the world, 'me,' sick.

I hope this can be an opportunity for you to soothe your mind and overcome this disease of the mind.

If it doesn't go well,

come and see me

Medical Director, Cheongdam ANZ Dermatology Clinic
Sincerely, Cho Young-min, Board-Certified Dermatologist