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Psoriasis Happiness Report

When Being The 5th Happiest Country Isn’t Necessarily A Good Thing

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An unexpected, but welcome, effect of my post about cancer is that I am being asked more to speak about the process and encouraging more people to get checked out. Leading up to the day that I finally went to get my skin checked, I had spent months in physical pain and spent an equal amount of time hiding my skin patches with bulky clothes and avoiding pools, even in the hottest weather.

Thinking I had psoriasis, I was growing more miserable by the day and definitely wish I had sought out treatment sooner. I also wish I had a good reason why I lived with this for so long without mentioning it to a doctor, but I do not. While it turns out I didn’t have psoriasis myself, those living with the disease will tell you it is no walk in the park.

Psoriasis affects about one million people in Canada and a recent World Psoriasis Happiness Report conducted by the LEO Innovation Lab and LEO Pharma, in partnership with the Happiness Research Institute, shows that while Canada ranks fifth on the world psoriasis happiness scale, that doesn’t mean those people are actually happy. While psoriasis is a condition of the skin, it has a huge impact on people’s emotional, mental health and well-being.

Imagine not being able to enjoy the summer weather or being too self-conscious to go play with your kids in the pool. It’s no wonder that while the average Canadian rated their happiness at 7.3/10, psoriasis sufferers in Canada rated their overall happiness at 6.1/10, a full 17% lower! I can’t stress enough that you go to your family doctor or dermatologist if you think you may have psoriasis.

Trust me, it’s not worth the stress and lack of self-confidence to continue ignoring your symptoms, whether it’s psoriasis or any other illness. With psoriasis, specifically, it’s a chronic condition that requires continuous treatment, not just attention when there’s a flare-up as I did for over a year.

Take your happiness back and talk to your doctor about the different treatment options out there. Psoriasis is highly treatable by topical treatments applied directly on the skin, such as creams, lotions, ointments, gels and foams and some may advance to oral systemic or biologic therapy, which may also be used in combination with topicals.

If you’re interested, you can read the first-ever World Psoriasis Happiness Report here: https://psoriasishappiness.report/. It provides analysis of findings from online surveys completed by more than 120,000 people in more than 100 countries who live with psoriasis, including more than 2,250 Canadians.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this campaign, however the message remains the same. Get yourself checked if you feel something is off. You’ll be thankful that you did.

Dance Like No One Is Watching

Do You Dance?

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Weird question, I know, but allow me to elaborate. I was outside watching my kids play this weekend when I felt the sudden urge to break out the whip, nae, nae dance I have been hooked on lately. Two of my 10 year old neighbours happened to catch my sweet dance moves and immediately complimented me on my efforts. Of course by “complimented” I meant shrieked in embarrassed horror and told me to stop… Naturally, I continued dancing while following them around the street in hopes of embarrassing them in front of their friends.

It got me thinking about how much joy I get out of dancing even though my skills are sorely lacking. I’m not kidding either, I love to dance! The first thing I think about when we get invited to a wedding, even before the food, is what moves I’m going to display when “Uptown Funk” inevitably comes on. I like to take “dance like no one is watching” to a new level and love that my kids seem to be adopting this motto as well. I have even contemplated joining an adult hip hop dance class so I can hone my skills a bit. Granted, there will be no Magic Mike performances in my future, XXL or other, but you’re never too old to learn something new and fun, right? Plus I’m pretty sure there have been studies that show dancing improves your happiness levels and general overall well being. I say pretty sure because I am a blogger, not some fancy research person…

My 5 year old daughter recently asked me if I would learn a dance routine with her so that we could make a video of it. She thinks it’s hilarious to watch home videos and I think it’s hilarious to watch her watching home videos so I have, of course, accepted her challenge. I am oddly nervous about it though, which caught me a bit by surprise. I don’t know if deep down I’m worried about my performance or if I’m afraid that my daughter will someday use this video to blackmail me but my cold feet have already begun. Either way, this video is happening and the only decision I will need to make is whether to share it with all of you or not. Ellen, here we come??

That brings me back to my original question of, do you dance?? If so, what kind of dancer are you? Are you a shower dancer? A toe tapper? Or, are you full on dancing with me to the elevator music in the grocery store checkout line? If you have pictures of video of you dancing, even better! Feel free to send them along and I’ll gladly share them for you. In the meantime, DANCE ON, my friends!!!