Psoriasis is most often a result of combined stresses

D: Out of these four? It's a combination of the four?

Yes, it's usually a combination of the four. So for some people maybe they have a pinched nerve in their back and their back kind of hurts and then they also have lots of work stress going on.

But then they're also not drinking enough water and they're drinking alcohol on the weekends which is another stress on the body clogging up the liver.

And then maybe they have a vitamin or mineral deficiency because they're not eating really healthy food. And all of this compounded together is causing adrenal exhaustion.

D: Is there any one of these stresses that's more harmful to a person?

Well, what I have found is that number four has the biggest impact on our body. That believe it or not, the work stress and the emotional stress, yes, that can compound and be a lot on your body. But if you take care of number four, the fourth category, nutritional and chemical stress, and you make this one rock solid then the other three categories won't affect you as much.

And this is also category that we have the most control over because we can control everything that we put in our mouths. We can control if we have a viral infection like herpes one or herpes two. We can take things for that. Because if four, your physical body is really balanced and healthy and strong and resilient, then if you get into a car accident you're going to heal faster. And you're going to be less prone to getting a structural imbalance like a sports injury.

And number two, your emotions will be more balanced so you'll be able to handle stress when it comes up with your family members or your mother-in-law is driving you crazy.

And mental stress won't affect you as much. You'll have more mental clarity, more mental focus. You won't be in a brain fog.

So categories one through three won't affect you as much. So focus on category four, making that a priority. So pinpointing the stresses like eliminating food allergies...this is so confusing because you may find websites that will say things like "I stopped eating wheat and my psoriasis went away so it must have been wheat that caused it."

But then another eating wheat and their psoriasis doesn't go away and you may be thinking "Why is that?" Well, you might not have to wheat. For me, I have a sensitivity to wheat and gluten. So I know that if I eat wheat and gluten and I'm working too much at work and I'm not getting enough sleep at night then I'm making myself an open invitation, a prime candidate for my psoriasis to come back.

But if I want it to go into remission, I have to get lots of sleep. I know my diet. I stick to my diet. I take time off on weekends. I make sure I turn my computer off. I'm taking lots of time off and I make sure I'm drinking enough water and taking care of my body.

But just the other day my fianc� looked at my forehead and I had a little spot. I get it along my hairline first. And he looked at it and said "Oh, it's time to go and take a break. It's time to distress." And I was eating a little more sugar than I normally did and entertaining a little bit. We'd gone out a couple of times and I drank some alcohol and all of these things are stresses on the body.

So I have a physical sign, a physical reminder that tells me "OK, it's time to start reducing stress." So I get out my SOS exercise and I'll start making a list of all of the things that could be possible physical stresses for me. And then I start eliminating as many as possible.