Vital voices: Difficulty getting diagnosed

I took a medical terminology class. And in one of those classes, a picture of psoriasis came up.

And I was like, this kind of looks like what I have. So I went to my doctor and then he was like, you know, yeah,

this is psoriasis.

I definitely experienced misdiagnosis. Having been prescribed dandruff shampoo,

I would just keep getting worse. And I would just get a different shampoo, and eventually it would spread down to my neck.

And then in my early 20s, it started kind of spotting. That was my family doctor, and he's been my doctor

since I was a child. I think it took too long to be referred to a dermatologist. The misdiagnosis stressed me out. I think there's a huge link to some type of trauma response.

And around the time that I got my psoriasis, I had a miscarriage at 16.

And I feel like that was a link. I didn't have a support system, like a normal person should.

I was supporting myself. It was hard to even try and get treatment.