KNOXVILLE (WATE) Quinn Perkins, played by Actress Katie Lowes is one tough cookie on the show Scandal, but she is also tough in real life.

Lowes has lived with a chronic autoimmune disease known as psoriasis for the past eight years. She says she was diagnosed with psoriasis eight years ago but finally decided to go public with her experiences in the hopes of helping others.

When I was first diagnosed I was so embarrassed and ashamed. You know, being an actress in Hollywood, there is such a pressure to look a certain way and after living with it for eight years, says Lowes, Im really living my best life and I thought there are 7.5 million other Americans living with this disease and if I can help even one of them feel inspired to be there own best advocate to get to a place where they are living their fullest life and theyre not limiting themselves because of psoriasis, then that would just be a huge win.

The actress is partnering with Jansen and the National Psoriasis Foundation on a campaign called Inside Story. She shares her story about living with psoriasis and encourages others to do the same.

While on the set of Scandal, Lowes said there were times when she had flare-ups. She said there were times when she couldnt wear a certain red carpet look or wear a bathing suit on vacation.

There are all these limitations placed on your life and I know from personal experience it can be so upsetting and you can feel so alone, but with 7.5 million people living with this disease, you are not, said Lowes. This site is a wonderful tool that people struggling with psoriasis can use to their benefit because I want people to feel, you know, that we are a large community that we support each other. I want to encourage people to find a doctor they can trust, to find a treatment that works for them and I just want people to know that it is possible to get to a place where youre not limiting fashion and style and being with our family and things like that.

Lowes appears on the final season of Scandal which airs Thursdays on WATE 6 On Your Side. When asked if she knows how the show will end, Lowes said she is under lock-and-key.

We are not allowed to say anything, but I can assure you that this will be the final season of Scandal and the writers are leaving it all on the dance floor and it is going to be a wild and crazy ride for sure.

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'Scandal' actress Katie Lowes opens up about psoriasis - WATE 6 On Your Side