I really never understood certain people with acne. You do have a disease, but it's not one of the worse diseases out there. It can't kill you. You don't have to have a leg or an arm amputated because of it. You actually learn how some people are. You can know if a person is really worth your time or not based around their quick judgement of you. I don't understand how you can whine and moan about people doing this or saying this and giving those people the attention that they desire. Those people who don't give you a chance because of your skin are ridiculous and you should be happy that they won't because then you won't be wasting your time with a pathetic, superficial, dime in a dozen person like themselves. Kind of a good thing.
Looks matter more than you think. "women are generally more likely to say that looks do not matter (Lippa, 2007), despite empirical evidence suggesting that look do matter (Feingold, 1990; Sprecher, 1989; Woll, 1986)." You are unaware of how much of an impact skin has on the way you perceive people. Acne and scarring can negatively change the way people perceive you in so many ways. You might believe you don't have any chemistry with a guy that has severe acne and scarring, but if that same guy had healthy skin when you met him, you might fall madly in love with him. You might even say" I didn't have any chemistry with him, it's not because of his acne. I don't judge people because of their skin".
People perceive acne sufferers negatively. A survey shows this is true.
"The clear-skinned teens were most often perceived as happy, confident, and intelligent. The pictures of the SAME teens, with acne, were labeled "shy," "nerdy," and "lonely." Teens with acne were also thought of as more likely to be bullied and less likely to date".
This is completely utter bullshit.
It's not "Utter bullshit".Unfortunately it is true.Your face is the first impression people get about you.It definitely changes as you get to know them.But still it's the first impression.And sadly it's mostly negative.For eg. In times when i have hideous acne.My complexion becomes redder/darker and somehow my eyes look sunken.Class mates have told me that initially they used to think i was a marijuana addict,and so i looked scary.This was told to me by a girl whom i fancied in the first semester.
Isn't this heart-breaking? Don't give me that "Such vain people who judge you by your acne should be ignored by you" cliched crap. The bitter truth remains unchanged.Acne is bad,it makes you look worse.And do you know what is the worst thing? People judge you inevitably because of your acne.
It's all dark....
Let me tell you this. I went to an all girl's high school, and trust me girls can be some of the most heartless, cold beings I've ever come across. There were these chicks with acne. Mind you, I had terrible acne in high school, but there were these girls one had even worse acne than me and the other had just as bad as mine, and guess what? These chicks were the most well known and popular girls in the school. They had a new boyfriend like every month (and these guys were good looking!) And they were liked by everyone. Always outgoing and everything!
Same with some guys I knew at the brother school. Terrible acne. But had girls all over them! Lol, I think it depends on the person.
Having a partner while having acne is a completely different thing.We were discussing about how people judge you and how their first impression's vary because of your acne.An individual could have a negative opinion about you and still end up liking you... You strayed away from the topic.
No, I didn't stray from the topic. I was trying to make a point, that those quotes from somebody I was presented with, is utter rubbish. There are people out there, more than you know, that have really bad acne, but aren't judged the same way that you were or are.
Just because you experianced something because of a "problem" you had, doesn't mean a person with the same "problem" as you will experiance the same judgemental and rude comments that you had to deal with. Trust me, there were a lot of guys and girls that I grew up with of whom's acne was as bad as mine or worse. Surprisingly, people were drawn to them and I rarely heard negative comments about their skin and so forth. Nobody really cared, but that's just what I saw and what I experianced when I was younger. Nobody really cared about my acne as much as I did. The only rude comments I did receive were in Middle School by one kid and I let that affect me to a very high degree. Now that I think about it, nobody really bothered me about my skin in High School. Nobody really cared, but I cared. I saw it as a disease, a burden, even though there were other people in my class that had just as bad skin or even worse and they didn't let it stop them. But then again, the difference between me and them is that they were never teased about it, I was and I let it get to me. -_-
I do not care about what happened to other people. I only care about what happened to me. I was bullied because of the way I look.
I guess I understand. But like you can't let your acne control you dude. Like, I said before, you have to learn how to accept yourself for the way you are. If you keep negatively saying things like "oh, acne after 18 means no relationships", that's not helping you in your situation. Seriously, you said you tried confidence, but I don't think you really did. You need to take time and love yourself and that includes your acne and whatever else maybe bothering you. I said this before, you're not going to gain confidence over night and you're not going to love yourself overnight. This kind of stuff takes time.
I mean I made mistakes because of my acne, but now it's whatever. Yeah, so what if I have some bumps on my face? At least I'm alive and I have a pretty good life and I shouldn't let something as miniscule as acne get in my way. Like I'm sure there are people out there of whom you'll never meet that have worse skin than yours, and they are happy and cheerful and they don't let it bother them. Yeah, I understand that you were bullied, but think about it this way: if you keep your head down and you keep acting like a negative nancy because of what some douchbags said about you, then guess who is winning? Them. They want to keep you down and you're letting them by acting this way. Do you really want them to win? That's the only reason why people usually bully others, they want to feel and look better than them, when they know they aren't.
For example the guy that bullied me, he bullied me because he was having some trouble in his family. His mother had died, and he gained joy, and felt better by making fun of people and putting them down at his level. He still isn't doing anything with his life, while the people he made fun of, are flourishing. Seriously, don't let these idiots get to you. I know it's hard, but you really need to like be a little more optimistic. It's going to take time, but if you keep thinking the way you do, you're not going to make any improvements, you're just going to be stuck in one spot.
Yeah, my acne problems esculated because of myself. I wasted four years of my life, because of myself causing something to become worse than it was. -_-
I'm done talking about this, I don't want to steer too much away from the topic at hand, but it frustrates me still because of my own actions and my own impatience and negativity that I missed many opportunities in my life. I've learned, and I wish to pass that on to others. Sometimes you really just need to turn the other cheek...and move on with your life.
It is not the acne that is controlling me. That was certainly not the thing that was going on in the beginning. I didn't care about it that much back then. The real problem is how I have been treated by other people, because of acne.
I can say with certainty that I was the loser of the class and maybe the entire school. I was one of those kids that didn't belong to any group and wandered around with his backpack during breaks. At my school I was that kid. I didn't have any friends.
The other kids told me I was ugly and they refused to hang out with me.
Now I still have the same problems. I have only had superficial contact with people and only last year I have been able to talk to girls normally. Well, I have to say that I didn't that many girls. I have fixed that by joining a sportsclub and a studentclub last year.
And you know what? If you compare my high school situation to the situation now (with the studentclub), the difference is as day and light in how I am being treated by other people. It is just borderline insane! My education is wrecked and I'm not feeling well at all, because of the "fear of other people / things" that I have. I spent years in social isolation. I have probably avoidant / dependent personality disorder and will be sure of what I am having in the next weeks / months. I am getting my head checked. The reality is that I like to be around people, but now I have problems that hinder me from functioning at 100% of my capacity due to how I have been treated. I am broken and I don't know if I can be fixed.
I started getting major acne in 4th grade...... That was hell on earth lol
And when I say major, I mean MAJOR, it sucked
How old were you then? 9?
Yeah, I was about 9 or 10. Apparently, my doctor thought that I was too young to use facial cleansers and stuff, so I used soap and water, but it just dried my skin and made everything worse, so I was stuck with it. And then, in 5th grade, I started using Proactiv, which made everything even more worse. My doctor says that that the acne may have been caused by stress, because I was always a little stressed from schoolwork and social stuff and bullying (because of my acne and being a 'nerd'.... it was a vicious cycle lol)
I started getting major acne in 4th grade...... That was hell on earth lol
And when I say major, I mean MAJOR, it sucked
How old were you then? 9?
Yeah, I was about 9 or 10. Apparently, my doctor thought that I was too young to use facial cleansers and stuff, so I used soap and water, but it just dried my skin and made everything worse, so I was stuck with it. And then, in 5th grade, I started using Proactiv, which made everything even more worse. My doctor says that that the acne may have been caused by stress, because I was always a little stressed from schoolwork and social stuff and bullying (because of my acne and being a 'nerd'.... it was a vicious cycle lol)
Oh dear,proactiv at 10? omg...Maybe you hit puberty too early?
I started getting major acne in 4th grade...... That was hell on earth lol
And when I say major, I mean MAJOR, it sucked
How old were you then? 9?
Yeah, I was about 9 or 10. Apparently, my doctor thought that I was too young to use facial cleansers and stuff, so I used soap and water, but it just dried my skin and made everything worse, so I was stuck with it. And then, in 5th grade, I started using Proactiv, which made everything even more worse. My doctor says that that the acne may have been caused by stress, because I was always a little stressed from schoolwork and social stuff and bullying (because of my acne and being a 'nerd'.... it was a vicious cycle lol)
Oh dear,proactiv at 10? omg...Maybe you hit puberty too early?
That's what I thought at first, but nothing else started developing yet, all I had was the acne
Honestly if a gin came out of a magic lamp like the ole' arabian night stories.I'd make a wish: Wipe my acne now and make it appear again when i'm 70! haha i wouldn't mind acne when i'm 70. 
All i'd be worried about then is to write my will and wear a bib and enjoy the clear chicken soup 
I have followed this topic and I found out, that a lot of you guys think exactly the same way as I do. I'm 19 years old and I have been having problems for 4 years. In my teenage years everybody was telling me that acne's normal formal for my age and that when I will be out of adolescence, I'll be clear, etc. NOT TRUE! I'm an adult man and I still suffer from acne. When I was 15 I actually had more severe acne than I have now, but I coped well with them back in those days, because I don't know, I had hope that when I'll be out of adolescence, everything will be over. It's been 4 years since then and it's still continues. I didn't care for my appearance despite having worse skin than I have now. I went then for accutane and it cleared me well, but guess, what, now it has returned, so I went for another course of accutane and this time it doesn't help anymore! 
4 years ago I was a lonely, geeky nerd. I had just one true friend in high school. I didn't care for anything except school, football and computer games.
Now things has changed in my head. I seek company, I seek some social contact. I realized now that i'm on college, that people judges you only by your appearance. I can't make some new friends, i can't interact with other people because I give a bad first impression prior to my skin. The worst thing that I'm afraid is that I will be single for eternity. I'm 19 and I NEVER had a single girlfriend, guess why? No girl would have such a guy as me. I tried like 3 times and everytime the situation was the same. They couldn't make eye contact with me because I'm to ugly to be looked at.I even heard "Yuck, fuj, ugly,". Everytime I go past some girl on the street they turn they face away and don't wanna look at me because I'm so disgusting. It's not the confidence I lack, it's the attitude the others have towards me. If they show me they're disgusted it makes me feel sad and unconfortable. Girls seek only handsome guys, it's not that I'm fat though, but I'm simply too ugly, you understand me.
That's the reasons why I believe that my period now (19-20) is the worse you can have in your whole life. Everybody enjoys and have a good time and tease you when you see on facebook that everybody ara in relationship, just I'm so alone that I'm writing this to you now.
