Skin disease is often obvious and very visible to others. Those who have skin diseases have not only to cope with the effects of their disease but also the reaction of others to their condition. There is stigma attached to a wide range of skin diseases, affecting many millions of people, just as there is for mental illness and sexually-transmitted infections.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/doctor/dermatology/living-with-skin-disease