Think about it, of all the people you know who have had acne, the ones who were happy/joyous while they had acne cleared up much faster than those who were always depressed/sad. The happy ones always went out and did things (got more oxygen, exercise, sunlight, less stress), while the depressed/sad ones were sitting inside moaning about their acne, and thus the acne remained.
What do you guys think, is it a psychosomatic disease?
It is.
And it's not as simple as "happy" or "unhappy". If you think about your acne being bad, it gets worse or stays bad. If you think it's getting better, it gets better. If you don't think about it at all it goes away. If you think about it all the time, it never goes away. Think about all the times you tried a new product or supplement or diet and it worked great right away because you had convinced yourself it was "the answer". Then over time you got a couple unavoidable pimples, lost faith, and it stopped working. It's a placebo.
Proof that thinking about things makes them worse: Think of when you have to pee but you're stuck in traffic or there's no bathroom around and can't stop thinking about it. It gets extremely intense and you feel like you have to pee more than you ever have in your life. Meanwhile if you were at home and you weren't really thinking about it because it wasn't a big deal, you could hold it in a lot longer. Think about when something bad happens in your life and compare how you feel sitting around thinking about it all day, and going outside and distracting yourself instead. Think about when you're hungry but dinner's not for 2 WHOLE HOURS. You can't have a snack because you're a guest at someone's house and it's just killing you not to eat. But if you were at home playing video games or reading, and didn't really have the energy to cook a meal, you could have gone just as long without food but not even really notice you were hungry. I could go on and on.
Also, acne is as much a product of insecurity as it does cause insecurity. Thinking about your appearance all the time, thinking you look bad, will make you look worse. And whenever you think "eating this donut will make me break out", it will. If the thought never crosses your mind, it won't. Same goes for people with weight issues. I've convinced myself I have a high metabolism and can never gain weight, but it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe over the next decade, science will discover more and more about how thought affects the body. I seem like a crazy person right now because modern thought indicates that everything can be solved through medicine and physical means. But doesn't that seem a little convenient for the industry which is both researching and marketing?
Well, due to its diverse nature, its practically impossible to come to a definitive and widely applicable conclusion about anything acne-related. Hence the cause of acne should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
With that said, however, I dont believe acne is, in and of itself, a mental illness-- or a pure psychosomatic disease. More than likely, confounding variables are responsible for most seemingly direct correlations. Also, with regards to the above poster, it seems rather nonsensical to suggest that either the placebo effect or perceptional variations are indicative of acne being a psychosomatic disease. I mean, sure, someone's disposition can have an impact on their acne, but that does not serve as valid evidence of acne, itself, being either a mental illness or a psychosomatic disease.
I do think it could be a mental disease for some people not all. I can relate to some of the things existed has said. I have known and have read many stories of people clearing up their acne by just clearing up their emotions. Everyone's acne is different, some could be a reaction to food or product or many other possibilities. But I truly believe my acne is majority related to my emotions. I 100% agree with the placebo thing that exister has mentioned, I don't think you're crazy at all. Some people just don't know that the mind is a very powerful tool.