Navigating Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Faith Healing and Mental Health Insights

June is Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) Awareness Month, and as both a therapist and someone who has lived with HS, I wanted to talk about a side of chronic illness that often goes unnoticed: its impact on mental health.

HS is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that can cause painful lumps, cysts, or abscesses deep under the skin. I have had HS for over 13 years. I have had to learn to navigate everything in my life differently. From doing my own wound care, to knowing my treatment options before entering the emergency room, I consider myself an expert of well...me. I have been on a myriad of medications and injections, went through 3 surgeries, and prayed countless prayers through the years. I have had positive and negative experiences with medical professionals. 

While the physical symptoms are challenging enough, the emotional toll can be just as significant. Chronic illness comes with the anticipation of flare-ups, the frustration of limitations, and the grief that can come with living in a body that doesn't always cooperate. Chronic illness creates a mental load that many people never see. This reality is doubled when the chronic illness is invisible or there is not outward evidence of your suffering. Newer illnesses or less researched diseases can make you feel like the medical world’s guinea pig. The way we approach life looks completely different than those living without chronic illness.

As a therapist, I often see how deeply connected our physical and mental health are. Chronic illness can increase feelings of anxiety, sadness, frustration, isolation, and even shame. It can challenge our sense of control and sometimes our sense of identity.

For me, there is another layer to this experience: faith. I believe God heals. I pray for healing. I have prayed for my own healing and the healing of others. I have studied the scriptures on healing. I have even been prophesied over that I have a gift of healing. Yet, I still lived with HS. 

That reality can be complicated.

There are moments when faith and chronic illness feel easy to reconcile, and there are moments when they don't. There are questions, disappointments, and tensions that many believers quietly carry. What does it mean to trust God while still experiencing pain? How do you continue believing for healing while also accepting the reality of your current limitations? How do you pray for others and celebrate their breakthroughs while still waiting on your own?

These are not signs of weak faith. They are honest questions that emerge when faith meets suffering. Today, I stand in an unofficial remission from HS. While I don’t struggle daily with the symptoms of HS anymore, I am reminded of this struggle with an occasional flareup. I can’t tell you why I experience healing now in a way I didn’t over the past decade. I can tell you that I have had to make many difficult decisions through the years. From reminding myself of scriptures during wound dressings and doctor appointments to resting when I would have preferred to keep going to bringing the same prayer request for healing year after year. 

One of the most important decisions I made is that my purpose and calling will not be hindered by HS. While that may feel easy for me to say now because I don’t experience pain regularly, I would hope that my life would declare the same message. The calling of God is irrevocable (Romans 11:29), which means it doesn’t change no matter what I do or what happens to me. Often the frustrations with our circumstances and experiences cause us to freeze waiting for better conditions to continue doing what God has told us to do. My hope and obedience is not dependent on having all my symptoms disappear. My hope is rooted in the presence of the God who is with me in the midst of the struggle encouraging me to continue in spite of it. I can believe in healing while also acknowledging pain. I can trust God to take care of me while I take care of His business. I can pray boldly while still wrestling with unanswered questions. 

Making room for both faith and honesty matters. Suppressing difficult emotions does not strengthen faith, and it won't fast forward your healing either. Naming them allows us to process them, seek support, and remain connected to God and others in authentic ways.

This HS Awareness Month, I want to raise awareness not only about the physical realities of chronic illness but also about the emotional and spiritual complexities that often accompany it.

To those living with HS or any chronic illness: your physical pain matters. Your mental health matters. Your faith questions matter. And whether healing comes today, years from now, on this side of heaven or the other side, your value, purpose, and calling are not on hold while you wait.