Autoimmunity and the Good Girls

Sara Hirsh Bordo’s book “Autoimmunity and the Good Girls: How Permission to Put Ourselves First Has the Power to Keep Us Well” is available on Kindle from 2 June, and hardcover from 16 July. It was whilst reading Sara’s post of 26 May on Psychology Today’s website that I learned about her book. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/autoimmunity-and-the-good-girls/202605/autoimmunity-and-the-good-girls It’s interesting to note the results on myskin.org to 30 April, which are based on the responses of 1154 participants, 63% of whom are female, show stress as the top response to the questions: what triggered your psoriasis for the first time, and, what makes your psoriasis worse? I was diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of 7 in 1983 and was a dermatology inpatient and outpatient at a children’s hospital to the age of 16 in 1992, before being discharged. Although I still had psoriasis, I concluded there was nothing more that could be done, and it was something I would need to live with for the rest of my life. In 2021, whilst reading Pete Walker’s book “Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving”, I realised I’d had complex PTSD my whole life. In 2022 I discovered “The Link Between Skin Conditions and PTSD” on PTSD UK’s website. https://www.ptsduk.org/skin-conditions/ From the middle of 2022 to early 2025, I chose to put myself through 56 sessions with a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Whilst the sessions were emotionally draining, my psoriasis dramatically improved, and has almost disappeared. At the 2024 Psoriasis Association’s conference, I spoke briefly about my experience, and the impact of psychology on improving my psoriasis, after Dr Catherine O’Leary’s presentation “Coping with psoriasis: A psychologist (and patient’s) view”. This is on the YouTube link from 20:56 onwards. The issue of psychology and psoriasis was raised again, by another attendee, after Dr Julia Schofield MBE’s presentation on “Second line treatments for psoriasis: Choices and challenges”. This is on the YouTube link from 35:20 onwards. https://www.psoriasis-association.org.uk/news/2024-conference-videos