The photo Anna wants you to see

THIS is just a photo of a beautiful woman at the beach, right? Well, yes, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.

LAST year I wrote an article describing my experiences living and travelling with chronic conditions.

While the responses from readers on my website Anna Everywhere were mainly positive, when it appeared on news.com.au many reactions weren’t nice at all. Lots of people described me as this “pretty girl who has a few red dots on her skin and complains” and others just focused on a photo that ran with the story that my friend took when I was working as an assistant at a wedding photoshoot.

What people who don’t have psoriasis might not know is that it does have an impact on your life and it’s not just “a few red dots” but a bigger problem that not only prevents a lot of us from travelling and living abroad, but also very often from even leaving the house.

More than 20 per cent of people suffering from psoriasis are often depressed and seven per cent end up committing suicide. Still think it’s a silly skin problem?

This is why I wanted to write a follow up ever since my first article. Now I’m finally ready to share my experiences and give more tips that will hopefully encourage other people with psoriasis to travel more and not be afraid of dealing with other people.

Living with psoriasis is harder than many think it is. When I was younger I was hoping that my psoriasis would go away at some point, but it never did. In fact, it got worse over the years.

While the majority of people have mild psoriasis, my case was described as severe. It’s been painful, itchy and therefore impacted on what I wore.

She wants people to think before they speak. Picture: Anna Lysakowska

Whether you swim, go to the beach or to a hairdresser, psoriasis can really destroy your self-confidence and make you resent your own body.

A lot of people don’t want to travel with psoriasis, as living with it even at home isn’t easy. I often spent hours picking flakes of my skin from my hair and sit on my bed scratching itchy patches.

When you travel and experience different climates things can get worse. Moreover, why would anyone go to a sunny destination when they’re embarrassed of being seen in swimwear?

People will tell you to adjust your expectations to your condition. I’ve heard this since I was diagnosed with psoriasis. My wardrobe was adjusted to my psoriasis, as I always wore longer dresses with dark stockings to cover the spots on my legs.

When I had flakes on my elbows, which was pretty much always, I wore long gloves when going out with friends and stopped wearing black sweaters and coats as scales from my head flaking off looked like a bad dandruff.

Every time I walked into a room for a job interview or even had a drink at friends’ house I didn’t want to sit on a black sofa or a chair as it was covered in “snow” from my head very quickly.

I also gave up on one of my hobbies — pole fitness, as not only I was embarrassed to attend a class in shorts and a singlet top, but also my flared skin often bled and scared my classmates.

Anna was told to adjust her expectations of life. Picture: Anna Lysakowska

My public image of a ‘bikini girl’ in this case is quite ridiculous.

Yes, I recently discovered that I’m being called a ‘bikini girl’ among other travel bloggers and every major publication somehow chooses to feature my bikini photos as a cover photo of an article about me.

While it may seem flattering, I think it’s quite a funny coincidence considering my skin problem actually costs me a lot of courage to put on my bikini and wander around the beach.

However, since I currently live in Playa del Carmen in Mexico where sunbathing at the beach or swimming at cenotes are daily activities it’s impossible for me to avoid showing off some skin, with or without the red spot.

I simply had to tell myself that I need to try live like other people because I mean seriously people, what am I supposed to wear a the beach and swim in ... a moo moo? That would be far more awkward, don’t you think?

Covering up with sleeves. Picture: Anna Lysakowska

I also hear that I’m this stereotypical girl with a perfect manicure and wearing dresses everywhere. I’m not going to go into the discussion why the modern world thinks that in order to be a traveller girls need to wear absolutely no make up and dress in sweatpants and tramps, as it’s a topic for a long blog post.

However, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I actually hate shopping (I usually pick things up from Amazon) and really don’t enjoy getting my nails done every two weeks at the nail salon. However, due to my psoriasis again I have no nails when I don’t get a special treatment for them and my supposedly perfect manicure isn’t actually my choice.

YOUR SKIN DOESN’T DEFINE YOU

At some point I simply realised that if things cannot be changed I had to deal with my psoriasis everywhere instead of hiding it. I stopped carrying about covering up my spots, pretended like nothing happened and stopped limiting myself because of it.

I’ve realised that no matter where I live or where I travel to, people will react to my skin in a similar way so why would I suffer more thinking about it when my skin is painful enough already.

I quickly realised that it’s not me who can’t deal with it as I got used to it, but it’s other people. Treating my skin might make my morning routine longer than it’d take “normal” people, but it doesn’t mean it has to dictate my life.

Living life to the max. Picture: Anna Lysakowska

YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE IN PUBLIC

If I had a button to put on my chest when I go into public, it would read: “Hello, I’m Anna, you don’t have to stare, it’s just psoriasis. It’s not contagious, as it’s not a skin disease but an immune disorder.”

Do I see that people are often afraid of sitting next to me? Yes, and you know what — it’s more space for me! Will they stop asking questions? No, and they also won’t stop staring, so instead of feeling insecure about it I’ve learnt to answer their questions before they even have a chance to open their mouth.

I didn’t fall off the bike and didn’t get a sunburn, it’s just my skin and no, I don’t need the cream that worked for your grandma. It definitely made my life easier.

Also, you might want to cut off a few people from your life. As sad as it may sound I had to do that, including some friends. You don’t want to be constantly asked “how’s your skin doing this week?”, “does it get any better?”, “how’s your boyfriend dealing with it?” etc and be inspected with stares. Again, it’s enough stress for me as it is.

The thing is that you shouldn’t rely on people who cannot deal with something that’s a part of you. Instead, you want to be friends with those who’ll tell you that you’re crazy when you’re trying to put a concealer over your red spots and that you look nice without it.

In the past I lost two boyfriends over my psoriasis, because they couldn’t deal with it and made me feel awful about myself and how I look. I didn’t want to date and felt uncomfortable about even considering a possibility of a longer relationship with anyone.

The truth is, however, that you shouldn’t care about these idiots and never think that you cannot find someone who’ll accept you for who you are regarding your skin issues. Trust me, one day you’ll meet someone who won’t give a damn and will make you feel beautiful — I’m speaking from experience.

All I want to say is that you’re not alone and that your psoriasis is just a small distraction from everything you can do with your life! Travel, live abroad and enjoy life and ignore those who cannot handle your happiness!

If you or someone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.If you need help with depression, please see Beyond Blue for a list of organisations that can help.

Read more from Anna at her website Anna Everywhere.