Hi, my name is Ryan. I am currently 14 years old and at 9 Months old I was diagnosed with chronic eczema. I have had severe eczema close to all my life. Most of the time it included stubborn and always red skin, regular flare ups and frequent skin infections. Between late 2019 and early 2023, I experienced a drastic change in my skin on my face and neck and my general appearance. My forehead had huge lumps, lines and skin falling off, my eyebrows had lost most of its hair, my face was consistently red all over and due to the number of infections I was getting on my extremely dry scalp I had to shave most of my hair off. Also, I have had over 10 different food allergies at any given time throughout my life. These are the two conditions that certainly have had a profound effect on my life since a young age the most.
For as long as I can remember there have been various stigmas against people with medical conditions in general. For example, the idea that skin conditions are contagious has been extremely present during the earlier years of my life through hurtful comments from children. Although these types of comments have very much faded throughout the years, I strongly think that this shows the ignorance and naivety that plagues young children in this day and age. It causes bullying and exclusion, which eventually leads to further mental health challenges, such as low self-esteem, social anxiety and a general feeling of alienation due to exclusion from being “different” all at a very young age. I believe that if there was more acceptance and awareness with less rejection of people with medical conditions and those who are just “different” in general, I wouldn’t have faced these problems.
I strongly believe that the general rejection of people with medical conditions is widespread. One of my experiences that most people with conditions might be able to relate to would be the stress of flying on a plane. Personally, flying is difficult for me due to having loads of heavy creams in my checked luggage and having to carry more creams and medicines through security, which means I am always getting stopped. Also, due to my allergies, airport and airplane food is never suitable for me to eat, leading to more problems at security.
Anyway, in 2021 at Heathrow check-in at 4am (when everyone in my family was tired and just wanted to get on our flight), we encountered a case of what some would say is discrimination by the airline. Due to me flying to my home country, Algeria (a country where there is little food suitable for people with allergies), two of our checked bags were full of essential things for me to survive there, such as oat milk, vegan butter, vegan cheese (so we can cook there) and various creams and medications. Of course, these bags exceeded the weight limit but we had a letter from my consultant, which is accepted by the airline every year. However, at the check in desk the agent started asking extremely rude questions and dismissed the letter, which was signed, saying that she did not care what the letter said and that she couldn’t see a disability so it doesn’t exist. I am sure that this isn’t an isolated issue in only the aviation sector, and it shows that, no matter how much work we do on our part, there will always be ignorance on the other side and more needs to be done to address this by corporations, as it is an ongoing trend.
I personally have had many experiences like this, as the term “silent disability” isn’t commonly known and acceptance needs to be done for this term to be accepted and acknowledged, as just because we do not look “disabled”, it doesn’t mean we aren’t. When premises or services have not been designed to meet our needs, we cannot just be expected to fit in because it may be at the cost of our life or health.
Fortunately, retailers are more responsive to Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) guidelines and awareness has increased about allergies. More has been done through new laws triggered by tragic events that could have been avoided by better regulation and big corporations not valuing protection over lives. However, the term “may contain” remains a huge problem for people with allergies, especially when we know it is a clause to protect big business from liability – leaving the risk in the consumers hand. In terms of eczema, I think there is a long way to go to raise awareness and press for better understanding and holistic care, including mental health, accessibility, and ease of access for medication.
