• Art Misfits Haze at Hospital Melaka for Abbvie Pharmaceutical 2

    Painting with Focus and Attention

  • Art Misfits Haze at Hospital Melaka for Abbvie Pharmaceutical 3
  • Art Misfits Haze at Hospital Melaka for Abbvie Pharmaceutical 1

    By Haze Long

Haze at Hospital Melaka for Abbvie Pharmaceutical

Haze went to Hospital Melaka on the 4th of October to get close and personal with the psoriasis patients.

Through the interview sessions, Haze got to understand more about the effects of emotional psychological health on the disease and she created a 3x4ft artwork for Abbvie Pharmaceutical.

This painting will be submitted to the ‘Perspective, Inflammation, Art and Me’ international art competition organized by Abbvie Pharmaceutical.

Psoriasis is a skin disease that flares up due to unresolved emotional issues such as stress, abuse and/or abandonment.

Latibah suffers from this disease, but her sores aren’t that visible. In 1994, her husband had a major accident and his C6 was fractured.
This left him unable to control the lower half of his body, and he refused to go for corrective operations.

Latibah, who worked as a nurse in Hospital Melaka brought him back to their home.
Besides having to work a 9-5 job at the hospital, she also has 10 children to take care; in addition she now had a husband who cannot walk, stand or attend to his own needs to take care of as well.

The emotional stress took a toll on her and manifested as psoriasis. Each time there’s any big event in her life, the psoriasis would come back.
After many years of fighting it, the family has learnt how to cope with the disease together.

Latibah even managed to nurse her husband back to health (he can walk and he even participated in the interview), send 4 of her kids to tertiary education and work at the hospital.

Talk about a Wonder Woman.

Her husband tries to relieve her stress when she is back from work everyday. He also mentioned that having a supportive family is very important when it comes to caring for a psoriasis patient.

However, her disease is still manifesting periodically and even though the hospital provides counseling, there is only so much they can do.

Dr Roshimah sincerely hopes that a psychologist post can soon be made available in government hospitals, similar to the private hospitals who have their own psychology department.

The second patient we interviewed was the antithesis of Latibah. She was shaking in fear when Haze interviewed her and her psoriasis was very severe.

Siti Raudah is an orphan abandoned at an early age, she is currently at the Rumah Pusaka.
Rumah Pusaka is a home for the abandoned and children in need, the lady who takes in these children is known as ‘Mak Cik’.
When her tasks are unfinished, Mak Cik would reprimand her and the constant verbal abuse had caused the psoriasis to manifest.

Patients with psoriasis often experience rejection, especially when their skin keeps shedding which worsens the condition itself.

After listening to their stories, Haze started to work on the art piece. She used a combination of acrylic and oil paint for this 3ft x 4ft piece.

There is a plan to auction the Top 50 international pieces. All proceeds will be donated to the patient societies.

Share