Q&A: Arcutis educational campaign seeks to reduce emotional toll of psoriasis

Psoriasis is not only a disease that impacts patients physically, with scars and red patchy skin, but it also impacts patients emotionally. Patients’ mental health often suffer due to the anxieties of living with the condition. In response, Arcutis Biotherapeutics has launched an educational campaign, Expose Psoriasis, with the intention of reducing the emotional toll of psoriasis.

To learn more, Healio spoke with Tina Bhutani, MD, MAS, co-director of the University of California San Francisco Psoriasis and Skin Treatment Center and member of the Expose Psoriasis campaign.

Healio: Why is this campaign important?

Bhutani: People understand what psoriasis is, that it’s a disease of the skin that needs to be controlled with treatments, but less known is the mental and emotional toll that the disease can take on someone who has it — things like having to think about what they’re going to wear in the morning and how they’re going to cover up their skin or how they’re going to explain it. Essentially, there needs to be more of an awareness about that mental and emotional toll that patients have when they live with this disease.

Healio: What forms can that emotional toll take for patients with psoriasis?

Bhutani: It can be on the milder side, where patients worry or are anxious about all the factors that they have to think about living with their disease and treating their disease. But also, patients with psoriasis are at greater risk for diagnosable mental health disorders like major depression and generalized anxiety disorder, and also suicidal ideation. So, there’s a spectrum of the toll that it can take but it’s definitely a problem in this population.

Healio: How does the campaign facilitate conversations between dermatologists and their patients?

Bhutani: We know that many individuals avoid sharing all their symptoms with their health care provider. We want to encourage patients to tell their doctors if their disease is impacting their well-being because patients are often under the impression that the dermatologists or people who are treating their skin are only there to do that, just to treat the skin. But we understand psoriasis is much more than just a skin disease. And oftentimes, if patients tell us about the impact that the disease is having on their life, it might actually influence our treatment decisions. So, it’s important for patients to open up and tell us about it even though the doctor might not bring it up proactively. It might just be something like, “I’m here to talk about my psoriasis, it’s flaring up, I haven’t gotten good control of my skin, it’s also making a big impact in my life, on my interpersonal relationships or my job,” or whatever it may be. It might be just as small as that and then the doctors can take it from there.

Healio: How does this campaign also raise awareness in dermatologists?

Bhutani: I do think that it’s fairly well known already in the dermatology world about the emotional impact that psoriasis can have, but we do get busy in clinic and may not be proactive talking about these things. This campaign is a good reminder for health care providers to take time to ask patients about how their condition may be impacting their life and relationships and try to facilitate open communication.

Healio: What else would you tell people about this campaign?

Bhutani: This is a campaign targeted for patients, but it’s also helpful for health care providers to look at the site and be reminded to talk with their patients, especially those whose skin is well controlled, who may still have anxiety, like, “What am I going to do if my skin flares up?” Or, “What if my medications stop working or my treatment stops working?” There’s still a lot of anxiety around those types of things and it’s important to check in.

• Reference:
• New campaign from Arcutis aims to expose the impact of psoriasis on physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9045652-arcutis-expose-psoriasis-campaign/. Published Aug. 30, 2022. Accessed Sept. 21, 2022.

• For more information:
• Tina Bhutani, MD, MAS, can be reached at email: tina.bhutani@ucsf.edu.