New Measure for Social Anxiety in Scleroderma Patients

A recent study has found that people with medical conditions that cause abnormal changes in the hands, neck and face, such as scleroderma, are more likely to avoid social situations.

Happily married women with scleroderma are less likely to suffer from depression than single women with the disease. Find out more here. 

The Canadian Scleroderma Research Group has created a new scale to measure the levels of social avoidance experienced by scleroderma patients. The Body Concealment Scale for Scleroderma (BCSS) might later be used for interventions that could support scleroderma patients who live with social anxiety.

Because the face, neck and hands are not generally areas that can be kept covered in social situations, many people who struggle with scleroderma may avoid being in groups of people, particularly in cases where they must meet new people. Some may feel embarrassed, or even unjustly ashamed, of abnormal changes that scleroderma causes in their appearance.

Read more about the Body Concealment Scale for Scerloderma here.

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