Here’s something I discovered recently.

I scratch a lot less when I’m OUT of the house.

Since I’ve had several years of experience with this thing now, I’ve noticed a pattern.

Sometimes I need to go to some event – maybe it’s a dinner I organised with a friend, maybe it’s going to the shops to buy something. And it just so happens I have a patch flaring on my arm, or face, or wherever.

However, usually I try to force myself to go (since I’ve learned sitting in the house feeling sorry for myself isn’t helpful).

Here’s what I notice.

During my outing, whether I’m seeing a friend or just walking around the mall – yes, I am self-conscious and think about my skin most of the time and wonder if I look like shit.

But one thing I also notice is – I don’t scratch.

If my arm starts to itch, I summon some epic willpower from the ether and resist scratching it. Because obviously you can’t just sit there scratching like an animal in public.

And after several minutes of this resistance, the itch subsides (at least enough for me to stop thinking about it).

When I finally get home some hours later, I notice my skin looks better.

I also notice as soon as I walk in the door, I start to scratch again

Sometimes I’m not even itchy, it just feels like I haven’t scratched for so long so I do.

It makes me think that being home, sometimes we don’t even scratch due to an itch, it’s just a force of habit. Scratching makes us feel good, so we do it, even if we don’t really need to.

Whether it’s just being outside/out of the house, the less scratching for several hours, the fresh air, maybe a combination of everything – I’ve noticed that when I spend a day out of the house my skin is considerably improved by the time I get home.

While I know a lot of us have our homes as our safe spaces and we are often reluctant to leave at all, I think getting out of the house can be a significant component to our healing.

Just go to an empty coffee shop and sit there and read a book. Walk up and down the boardwalk. Who cares if you look like shit. That guy next to you maybe just went through a divorce. The waitress maybe just got evicted. The lady who just walked in day maybe got diagnosed with cancer today. EVERYBODY is going through some shit all the time, just like us.

Try it. See if it helps!