The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationships Survey Fact Sheet

This survey was created in partnership with the National Psoriasis Foundation and Galderma Laboratories, L.P.

Within the October 2010 issue of DERMASCOPE Magazine we focused on the findings from this survey and the effects that Psoriasis has on social relationships. Within this section we will be highlighting effects that Psoriasis has on romantic relationships and the intimacy level within said relationships.

Romantic Relationships and Intimacy

• More than half of question respondents who are not in a relationship (51.8%) feel that psoriasis is one of the reasons they are not in a serious relationship or have trouble maintaining relationships, and 14.7 percent of respondents feel that a romantic relationship has ended because of their psoriasis.i
• Of the survey respondents not in a committed relationship, nearly 80 percent (79.7%) feel that they date less than their peers because of their psoriasis. Of those, 57.5 percent feel it is because they are less physically attractive to the opposite sex, and 52 percent say it is because they shy away from intimacy due to psoriasis. Around 41 percent worry that psoriasis will impact their dates' first impressions of them.ii
• Many respondents (61.2 %) worry that their partner will be turned off from physical intimacy by their psoriasisiii, and 65.3 percent feel less desirable to their partner because of the conditioniv. In addition, 62.8 percent feel uncomfortable exposing their body to their partner when having a psoriasis flare-up.v

When asked how often they decline or avoid physical intimacy because of their psoriasis, more than half (52.2%) said that they decline intimacy sometimesvi, most of the time, or all the time; and 46.2 percent say they do not feel "in the mood" when having a psoriasis flare-up.vii

i Survey Monkey. "The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationship". Question 17.
ii Survey Monkey. "The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationship". Question 23.
iii Survey Monkey. "The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationship". Question 30.
iv Survey Monkey. "The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationship". Question 20.
v Survey Monkey. "The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationship". Question 32.
vi Survey Monkey. "The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationship". Question 28.
vii Survey Monkey. "The Impact of Psoriasis on Personal Relationship". Question 29.