I can’t get a date because people think I have monkeypox

A 39-year-old bachelor who has suffered for over 25 years with psoriasis admitted he can’t find a date because people think his skin condition is monkeypox.

Zach McMullen said he’s often covered with red, scaly skin patches due to his chronic illness and has become accustomed to people “suspiciously” staring at him while he’s outside of his home.

Lately, though, he said strangers have been reacting more negatively to his skin as the monkeypox outbreak has swept the globe.

“I’ve been getting strange looks. I feel like as monkeypox spreads, it’s become more of a suspicion,” McMullen recently told Kennedy News Service. “I don’t deserve to be treated like a leper.”

But that’s just in real life. The Atlanta native said the struggle online is real, too, since he’s single and utilizes dating apps in the hopes of finding love.

“Dating is hard enough without adding a layer of fear on top of it,” he said.

So, he often has to explain his skin rashes right off the bat — and ensure he’s “safe to touch.”

“On dating apps, I sometimes have to have a whole preface to conversations about my skin,” he said. “It wears on a soul, having to talk about your physical imperfections with people, especially when you’re trying to explain to guys that they don’t have to be afraid to touch you.”

Psoriasis is a common, non-contagious skin disease, according to the Mayo Clinic, but can be confused with the highly contagious monkeypox since it involves similar red rashes and lesions. The condition has no cure and can be painful due to rashes and “itchy, scaly patches, most commonly on the knees, elbows, trunk and scalp.”

McMullen said that constantly explaining the common condition, which ails 7.5 million people in the US according to the American Academy of Dermatology, “feels defensive after a while.”

“I can’t say with any certainty that it’s caused anyone to break up with me or avoid a date, but I do know that it’s caused strife,” he added.

McMullen, who works as a communications director, said trolls wrongly assume he’s using his psoriasis as a cover-up for monkeypox. While he does have the vaccine, he expressed how it shouldn’t feel like he has to carry identification papers with him to prove he’s disease-free.

“Even if I had monkeypox, I don’t deserve to be treated like a leper,” he said. “People need to understand what monkeypox actually looks like [and they] shouldn’t ridicule others — even if they did have monkeypox.”

He then recalled one incident when after he used a credit card machine, a lady was so grossed out that she “ferociously” scrubbed down the gadget.

“People must be thinking ‘oh, he’s sick’. I’m not sick, this isn’t contagious,” McMullen said. “I see people looking at my skin, seeing my lesions. I understand people’s reactions can be involuntary, like they don’t realize they’re wrinkling their nose or making a face.”

In the hopes of spreading awareness about skin conditions, McMullen asked people to be kind to others in an Aug. 20 tweet that went viral with over 20,000 likes.

“Be kind to your friends with psoriasis,” he wrote. “We don’t have monkeypox, we are still people who hurt when you recoil at the sight of us.”

McMullen received a flurry of messages from those who sympathized with his plight.

“Can relate. I’ve got a couple visible patches myself. Not nearly as pronounced as yours but people freak out when they see it,” a user had replied.

“Right there with you,” another said in reply. “Psoriasis showed up just in time for monkeypox season. I guess I’ll be in long sleeves when I go out.”