Psoria-what? If you don't know what psoriasis is, you're not alone. Although 150,000 to 260,000 cases of psoriasis are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, with the majority of patients between the ages of 15 and 25, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation/USA, not many have heard of this perplexing skin disease. Let alone, psoriasis at college -- many college students are in the dark about the condition.

"The public may not know much about it because it's a disease you can easily hide or cover up," says Gail Zimmerman, president and chief executive officer of the National Psoriasis Foundation. "Above all, people need to know that it's not contagious," she adds.

Sharma Kiesner, a 21-year-old economics/ finance and marketing major at the University of Hartford (Hartford, CT), knows firsthand the difficulties of dealing with an illness at high school and college that most people her age are ignorant about. "My peers thought I was contagious and were afraid to be around me," shares Sharma, who was diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of 11. She admits to suffering from depression, anxiety, and fatigue from the strain of "just not being able to live a normal life."

So what exactly is psoriasis? There are several forms of the disease, but all involve the appearance of red, itchy lesions on the skin, for which there is no known cause or cure -- only treatments. In severe cases, the entire body is covered; Sharma's body was 98 percent covered by the time she entered her junior year of high school. She recalls people questioning whether she was in a fire or if she had poison ivy, and feeling ashamed and embarrassed.

"I was extremely covered when I started college," she says. "My whole face and arms had lesions." To add to her troubles, Sharma developed psoriatic arthritis, a painful and debilitating condition that's common among people with psoriasis.

But now, as a senior living with psoriasis at college, she has learned to accept her affliction as a part of who she is, and is involved in several campus and social activities. Taking the matter further, Sharma is speaking out on the affliction. "I may have psoriasis, but it doesn't have me," she says. "It used to be my greatest weakness, but it has become my greatest strength. I've learned that you can't judge people based on how they look -- you have to get to know them."

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