Eczema Through Our Eyes

Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory, pruritic, relapsing, non-contagious skin disease. About 7.2% of U.S. adults live with the AD. There are many genetic predispositions, immune dysfunctions, and environmental factors that can cause one to contract AD. It is one of the most common dermatoses diagnosed, usually diagnosed as a youth, and can continue into adulthood. AD is a type of eczema, a subset of multiple types of eczemas, however, this paper will focus on AD specifically. AD causes dry, itchy, and patchy skin that is caused by a hypersensitivity to allergies. Due to the significant physical, psychological, and social impacts of AD, depression is prevalent amongst late adolescence and teenagers who have skin disorders. In general, tend to have a higher risk for developing depression and suicide ideation. In literature review of AD and the social, economic, academic, and occupational ramifications of eczema can have on patients’ lives. Researchers found that in adults with AD 25.5% of college students impaired their social lives, 35% believe that it affected their clothing choice, 32% limited shaving or wearing make up. It also talks about the quality of life, sleep disturbances, self-perceived eczema scales, monetary issues, physician visits, and doctors visits. The Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS) is a prospective cohort study of age-stratified randomly selected groups selected from the Commonwealth of Australia Electoral Polls. The trial consisted of 2027 participants, 1085 women, and 942 men. 38.6% of participants suffered from atopic disorders, 21.3% met criteria for depression. This means that people with atopic disorders had a higher chance for developing major depression or MDD. Given the mental health issues of this population, research has not adequately studied effective coping strategies. For example, possible benefits of meditation, diet, and exercise. This study will use a detailed survey to examine effective mental health coping strategies that can reduce flare-ups among adults with eczema