yes! In my youth I was always shy and not very social. I hated attention and felt a very mild form of anxiety in certain situations like public speaking or having to be around big groups of people. Then I got freakin acne. The fact that I got acne just made it worse. Actually put it on a whole other level. At least I didn't have a sense of shame, I just wasn't very social. Now I am almost ashamed sometimes to go out in public.

Honestly it comes and goes tho. Some days I am able to not have a panic attack or feel anxiety but some days I just can't help it. I was never diagnosed officially but I do have social anxiety. I'd say most of it now in days is because of my acne scars. The shyness and timidness I had when I was younger is gone now I just have anxiety because I feel like I look like a monster. lol , well monster is a harsh word to use but yea I'm not proud to have scars on my face ya know?

You're not alone.

I do feel sometimes that a lot of the anxiety we get comes from our own pressure to be a certain way. I know this because I am a shy person and I tend to be somewhat awkward in situations where there are a lot of people, especially people I don't know. I guess I got even more shy when I got acne.

Growing out of my teens, I have come to realize though that being shy and awkward isn't a bad thing. It's just who you are and by making myself understand that I don't give myself that pressure anymore. I have cleared my acne now and I find I am still pretty shy but it doesn't bother me anymore. We should all learn to not be so hard on ourselves.

Have you ever heard of exposure therapy? If you truly do have social anxiety I think it something that is worth a try. From what I've read majority of people get over their social anxiety in about 6 weeks of doing it daily. I have been thinking of trying it myself but I don't think I'd be able to do it.

I do feel sometimes that a lot of the anxiety we get comes from our own pressure to be a certain way. I know this because I am a shy person and I tend to be somewhat awkward in situations where there are a lot of people, especially people I don't know. I guess I got even more shy when I got acne.

Growing out of my teens, I have come to realize though that being shy and awkward isn't a bad thing. It's just who you are and by making myself understand that I don't give myself that pressure anymore. I have cleared my acne now and I find I am still pretty shy but it doesn't bother me anymore. We should all learn to not be so hard on ourselves.

Yea, I have tried this as well trying not to be so hard on myself..it kinda works for me but doesn't fully take all the anxiety away. Glad to know I'm not alone!

hy guys,

unfortunately i also have social anxiety and probably the main cause is acne scars because it started in the time i have got my scars.

http://www.selftherapy.org/ - there you can find a free program for anxiety and panic attacks. Finding this site was great relived for me and it helped me a lot.

I hope it would do the same for you.

SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) can help. Look 'em up. Basically, antidepressants.

I have always felt like I was socially awkward. Getting acne two years ago only made it worse.. I always tell myself that I will be more outgoing and meet more people once I get rid of my acne, but in reality, I should be doing those things now, because you never how fast life can pass you by.. you're definitely not alone though

SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) can help. Look 'em up. Basically, antidepressants.

Eh for me they didn't work they just made me more depressed, I think they work differently for everyone..for some they work amazingly but for me it didn't..bummer.

Have you ever heard of exposure therapy? If you truly do have social anxiety I think it something that is worth a try. From what I've read majority of people get over their social anxiety in about 6 weeks of doing it daily. I have been thinking of trying it myself but I don't think I'd be able to do it.

Be careful how you go about doing exposure therapy. I have read up on it also and I have read that sometimes (for some people) it can make it worse (if you go to far..to fast)

I have always felt like I was socially awkward. Getting acne two years ago only made it worse.. I always tell myself that I will be more outgoing and meet more people once I get rid of my acne, but in reality, I should be doing those things now, because you never how fast life can pass you by.. you're definitely not alone though

Thank you glad to hear I'm not alone in this!

I had very bad social anxiety a few years ago. It wasn't due to my acne but my appearance had alot to do with it. I was anorexic at the time and I thought I was so fat I couldn't bear to be seen in public. I tried to go to social occasions and intended to go but when it came to I couldn't go through with it. I even missed my own 21st birthday party! Of course it was totally ridiculous, I wasn't really fat, I was very underweight but that was my perception. I had some therapy and now I am completely cured! I do sometimes find social situations stressful but not in a limiting way. I don't miss out on anything. I learnt to challenge my thoughts about my weight but also addressed the reasons why I had become so focused on my weight (mainly an abusive relationship.) You mentioned family issues. Could it be that your focus on your acne is a distraction from that? That it is something you feel you can try and fix when other things are outside of your control? You mentioned you had been diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, did you receive any treatment for that? I think it sounds like you could really benefit from therapy and I would highly recommend it - it totally changed my life.

@greeneyed Yea I can imagine how exposure therapy can do more harm than good for some people. From what I've read it seems to make sense to me and should work if done properly, but I'm not sure if it applies to people whos anxiety is caused by acne/scaring.