Acne Support Group

I know exactly how you feel. Everytime I get asked to go out or if I know I have to go somewhere even a week in advance, all I do is stress about it and wish I could just stay home and hide.It really is a horrible way to live life and I am so sick of it, i wish I could have the courage to just say screw it and go out with no make-up and feel ok about how I look but I just can't muster up the courage to do it so I stay home whenever possible so I don't have to spend hours trying to make my skin look "normal" just to go out and feel ugly anyways..it really is funny because I get compliments on my looks all the time but I just don't feel as pretty as people say I am and most of the time i can't even stand to look in the mirror. Nobody who doesn't suffer from acne ,mild or severe, has any idea what a strugglr everyday is.how hard it is to get up in the morning and pray for a day of clear skin only to look in the mirror and face reality. I wish I could take my kids out swimming and just get up and say let's go to the park but I am frozen at the mirror with that feeling of dread about having to face the world..what a waste of a life.And it seems the only answer the doctor's have is it will get better with time, like everybody has all the time in the world to just sit at home and wait for the day when your skin may or may not be clear. When is it going to be over?At 40 when your youth has gone by and you've missed out on all the experiences you will never have again? When your life has slipped by and you have lived every moment with self loathing and half wished you could just die so you wouldn't have to feel this way anymore..ACNE SUCKS!

sucks is such an understatement! it is terrible! and it just makes me feel so hopeless... i feel like i have done everything... oral medication, topical shit, good diet and excercise, facials... you name it, ive done it and i still look like this!
i am so envious of my friends who will go to a party, pass out at like 3 or something on basically the floor without washing their face, wake up the next morning and complain that they have a pimple on their chin. i just want to smack them and tell them to shut up because when i go out, i'm so paranoid that i will actually bring my facewash in my purse and scope out somewhere where i can wash my face before i go to bed (if i do go out, that is) it is so bad it affects my school... i'll go to the bathroom in between class, see myself in the mirror, and can't concentrate the next class. I've even gotten so desperate that I've skipped class to go back to the dorm, take a shower, and go to sleep at like 3 in the afternoon. It is terrible and I wish I could at least DO something about it. I don't want to waste my youth (like you said) but even when I have the most positive attitude I can muster, it is still there in the back of my head. It still stops me from getting too close to someone, stops me from going swimming, stops me from going out some nights... this is positive as I can fucking get and it still makes me want to just lie in bed all day and not see anyone. How the hell am I going to ever get married if I can't look anyone in the eye? People tell me I am more than my skin, and I have a good personality... it is bullshit. Looks DO matter, no matter what anyone says. It sounds like I’m being superficial but if you look around at our society, it feels like looks are all that really do matter anymore. To make looking so terrible even worse, it is an effort just to have a good personality anymore because I am so fucking self-conscious, it takes all my energy to appear confident and even that doesn't work all the time. I hate talking in groups because I hate having people put their attention on me. I look like shit, I feel like shit, and I act like shit. I hate it. Fuck.

I'm very sorry for ranting, I just feel like I have no one else to talk to about this and it is really, really, really bothering me (as you can see.)

I know about how bad it can make you feel. I have finally come to realize that this is a disease and it is not caused by anything I do. It doesn't matter how clean i try to be or eat the right foods or use the right face wash etc, it will still be there. But the trouble is I still feel ashamed about it even though I cannot cure myself. outside of my husband I don't think anyone knows how the acne really affects me, I don't talk about it with other people cause it seems to be a shameful thing. It affects what I wear ( i get it on my body too) and that affects what I do. like I won't wear a swimsuit in public. It affects my sex drive because I don't feel sexy and don't want to undress. I'm with Ironandwine - what wouldn't i give for clear skin.

i can't tell you how long i've been looking for a support group and i've found all your posts. Finally, others who feel the same way as I do!! I can't believe i've come so far into this acne pit that I've allowed it to actually grab hold of my will to live.. Why does this happen? I don't understand it. My acne is sort of in control now, but it has visibly scarred me (albeit moderately) but my skin used to be so.... beautiful. And because my body decided to have a hormone party, i had a huge break out for 6 months that has left me emotionally drained and mentally broken.
What's worse, is that I'm an actress. A successful one. And I dread the idea of going back to work in a couple weeks... i'm so scared. and all i do is care how i'll look on film. i can't even focus on my JOB because i'm constantly scrutinizing my skin in every light, every shade, every angle....
i've thought of ending my career... i'm sorry to be so dramatic, but it hurts my heart so much. and NO ONE can understand the kind of squeeze I feel when I no longer enjoy my life... i can't even breathe fully.

What's more, I'm SHOCKED that my dermatologist could not refer me to a therapist that specializes in this. Is this common? Why don't dermatology practices have some kind of partnership or referral association with therapy practices to help their patients cope with the effects and after-effects of acne?

I'm almost considering quitting acting and going into medicine to remedy this problem. I'd have a few top therapists who specialize in addiction, and psycho-cognitive effects of superficial scarring or trauma.... because dermatologists have no idea how difficult it is to even walk through their door.

Help... i'm just so sad. and i'm so terribly ill from this obsession. I don't know what to do.

i wish i could help. i wish i could say something that would make you feel better but i know that there is nothing really anyone can say to me to make me feel better so i doubt i can say anything substantial except that i understand.

sometimes i feel so dumb for having acne affect me so much... i mean, i could be missing a leg or have someone important to me die. but at the same time, acne is just a different kind of struggle because it is almost impossible, for me at least, to get over it when it is there day after day. it never goes away and there is nothing you can do about it... and it affects every social encounter. it isnt as bad as some big catastrophic event but i totally understand ohm86 ... it just wears you down until you don't feel like fighting anymore.

i wish you didn't have to stumble across this to make you feel better but it has made me feel better to at least know i'm not being totally ridiculous. i want to be thankful for everything else that is NOT wrong with me, you know? the constant battle just is tiring and i'm... well just really tired.

all i can do is just be around the people who I know like me for me and try to remember that one day its got to get better. it has to get better eventually. and when it does i'll probably be alot less judgemental because i'll know what it feels like to be insecure and to feel like youre being judged all the time

I'd just like to add that I think the thing that makes you the most depressed about having ane is that there really is no way to know when or if it is coming back..it is a battle that you cannot win because you don't know what you're fighting against.. even the doctors don't really know what causes acne and it makes it difficult for all of us to keep going when you don't know what to do.. I have been lucky enough to have a few weeks with pretty clear skin and feeling great about myself and then wake up one morning with a pimple and feel ike shit all over again.i am so frustrated by the lack of answers for this life altering affliction and just want it to be over..not because I want to be a supermodel, but because I just want to feel normal.to have a conversation face to face with smeone and really just enjoy it instead of feeling self-conscience about my face.i wonder how much efort do doctors really put in to finding a cure for acne..or do they want usall to suffer so we can keep throwing ou money into products that just don't work. I am so sick of acne!

Hey there.
Have you tried "MULTANI MITTI"(IN Hindi).It works wonders for acne.
Try and find it from a near by store.
And Don't feel bad.Don't let it affect your self-confidence.
TAKE CARE.

First,let me tell you guys...reading all your posts made me tear-up real bad. I've never had ANYBODY who could relate to me!!! Even my friends with more severe acne than I, are to prideful to let all their emotions out. I feel like a prayer has been answered.

IronandWine, your reply got to me the most. I want to agree AND disagree with you: Yes, the world and today's society put outward appearances above all other qualities...BUT that does not mean that they matter to everybody. My family, friends, and church all seem to value the person underneath more.
If you can't change your acne-then the best thing you can do for yourself is to change the people you surround yourself with. If you have ONE person out there-whether it's your mother, your father, your sister, your best friend-that you feel comfortable with in your own skin...then you are lucky.

These bodies are so fragile and temporary. They are all going to rot. We are all going to die some day. I believe there is more after death. Perhaps our souls will take on their true forms. If you can't make your face pretty-at least make your soul attractive. Maybe you will become a butterfly in the afterlife.