The Danish Psoriasis Association is putting people with visible psoriasis on public display — in glass boxes and on shopping-centre squares such as Aalborg Storcenter — to break the taboo around the skin condition. The idea is simple: instead of hiding psoriasis under clothing, the association lets people stand out in the middle of the crowd, where passers-by can look, ask and react. Its campaign ‘Are you looking away — or looking closer?’ aims to replace myths — that psoriasis is contagious, caused by poor hygiene, or just ‘a bit of dry skin’ — with knowledge, and to break the self-stigma that makes many of Denmark’s 200,000-plus people with psoriasis withdraw.
What is interesting is the method: visibility as a remedy for shame. By turning the hidden into something you are meant to look at, the association moves the conversation from prejudice to curiosity — and turns one person’s courage into a shared concern.
So…:
What would happen if you took the thing your audience most wants to hide and made it something they dared to show?
Source & Picture: psoriasis.dk