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Woman, 23, killed parents and herself after battle with eczema

A woman in Hong Kong killed her parents and herself on Father’s Day, and her skin condition may have been behind the attacks, according to authorities.

Former nursing student Pang Ching-yu, 23, stabbed her parents with a knife and then apparently killed herself, according to a police report obtained by CNN.

Police said they found a suicide note in Pang’s bedroom that states she was bothered by her eczema, an itchy skin inflammation.

Pang Ching-yu, 23, from Hong Kong killed her parents and herself due to a skin condition. Source: Facebook/ Pang Ching-yu
Pang Ching-yu, 23, from Hong Kong killed her parents and herself due to a skin condition. Source: Facebook/ Pang Ching-yu

Pang also wrote in an online forum that she blamed her parents for her skin condition.

“People with eczema giving birth to kids are worse than poor people giving birth to kids,” she reportedly wrote.

“If you’re poor, you can rely on your own hard work. With eczema, sorry, you have to suffer (your whole life) with no change.”

She also reportedly wrote she had issues with her appearance because she believed her skin was “not normal”.

“I wouldn’t want to turn on the light and look in the mirror,” she reportedly wrote, according to The Standard.

Eczema. File pic. Source: Getty Images
Eczema. File pic. Source: Getty Images

Pang had also written online that she had side effects from steroids she used to treat her eczema. She added that having eczema means “there’s nothing you can do except to wait and die,” adding that her “social life (was) all gone.”

Eczema is a long-lasting skin condition that is common in children but can happen at any age, according to academic medical centre the Mayo Clinic.

People with eczema are often subject to flare-ups that cause dry, itchy skin, reddish-brown patches, small raised bumps that can leak fluid, thick, cracked, and scaly skin, and raw, sensitive skin from scratching, the organisation said.

A survey conducted by the National Eczema Association in the US found that more than 30 percent of people with eczema were also diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety.

The link between the two is still being explored, but the National Eczema Association believes that it may be that people with inflammatory skin diseases like eczema are more susceptible to mental health issues because of the way their bodies communicate with their brains during an inflammatory response.

“In mental health, we see this body-mind correlation quite frequently,” John Mayer, PhD, a clinical psychologist who works with suicidal teens and author of Family Fit: Find Your Balance in Life, told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Some medications used to treat eczema, like corticosteroids, can also have depression as a side effect, Dr Mayer said.

With Korin Miller, Yahoo Lifestyle