You're certainly not alone. Im on a whole cocktail of psych meds (that dont really help btw) because of my psychological relationship w/ having acne, having scars, and always having the feeling that tomorrow will bring the mother load of all breakouts.

See all the threads in the Phychological Effects forum. Some are in better shape than others, but you'll see that what you mentioned above affects a great deal of us.

Best of luck

I eat a cheeseburger with a fork

Not sure if I would call this a mental disorder, but ever since I've started getting acne I always need to wash my hands. Even though I avoid touching my face I still feel the need to wash them. If I don't use a hand moisturizer every night they'll get all red and flaky because of how often I use antibacterial soap on them.

Acne scars are hell. Everybody around me realizes that I am depressed and I have no clue what to do about it.

No, but the massive bullying (using my appearance as a reason) did though. I am now officially mentally damaged beyond repair. I am far more bothered about my social problems than about my acne.

YES

I have depression and anxiety due to losing friends and a girlfriend to acne, actually it is more about the scarring that I got from a couple months of bad cysts. Even small sports left indents.

I was always a tad bit OCD my whole life so thats really not anything new to feel but acne and OCD do NOT mix well for me at all.

I had eating problems because I thought something I was eating was causing my acne so I was suspicious of every single meal that I consumed, leading to losing a lot a weight and only eating a couple different foods for a 4 month period

So now I am on some medicines to combat all the anxiety and depression. The funny thing is that If I never had acne I never would be in this position and would be living the life that I was before all this started when I was 17 (now 24). No one in my family seems to understand that dealing with breakouts, scars, and 3 or 4 mental disorders is very hellish experience for us going through this. Regardless I still see a small light at the end of the tunnel, I want to take a hefty dose of accutane and try to push myself into remission, I know its not a 100% chance of being clear but its the only shot I have now as I have tried every other route from over the counter to diet changes to dermatologist recommend gels, creams, antibiotics and so forth. I am just praying that when I can take my first accutane course that I will finally be clear and able to work on the scarring a little. I know that's a lot to hope for but hey, I have to stay positive to get through all this. having gone through acne so long has given me so many psychological issues and there is nothing I would like to do more than just get off all my meds and be me again with no acne. I long for the day I can date again, go out with friends, explore the world, party, eat what I want, exercise, live, laugh, and love. So, it all comes down to my accutane course, it is literally deciding what the rest of my life is going to be like. If it works, I can put in the rest of the work and get better all around, if it doesn't then there's not much more I can do but hope that it disappears with age I guess.

I had depression before getting acne but it's definitely gotten worse. I also have an anxiety disorder, a little OCD, body dysmorphic disorder, and suffer from anorexia nervosa. So yeah, acne screwed me over. I never worried about what I used to eat and now even a single calorie feels like the end of the world for me. I've never weighed more than 100 pounds and I still think I'm fat :/

Over the years at various stages:-

Depression

Anxiety

Agoraphobia

BDD

Acne Dysmorphia

Borderline Personality Disorder (not yet diagnosed but my CPN thinks I fit the bill due to my erratic behaviour in recent times.)

Othorexia Nervosa (eating disorder)

Trichotillomania

The last two or three months have been hell and I`ve become very ill and depressed. I`ve behaved appallingly and lost a real life friend because I bailed out on him and an online friend as well. I`m getting help now and I`m having an initial assessment for pyschotherapy on Tuesday. I`m paying for it privately as I need to do it for a very long time in order to tackle all of my issues. I`m at least starting to feel a little better in the past week or two, I`ve started attending a peer support group and I hope to go back to work very soon. Anyone else who has been affected by acne psychologically, you all have my utmost sympathy.

I had depression before getting acne but it's definitely gotten worse. I also have an anxiety disorder, a little OCD, body dysmorphic disorder, and suffer from anorexia nervosa. So yeah, acne screwed me over. I never worried about what I used to eat and now even a single calorie feels like the end of the world for me. I've never weighed more than 100 pounds and I still think I'm fat

You are a very beautiful person. Not all guys are bothered by flawed skin, definitely not me! You are not fat. Actually, I like girls with extra flesh. I can only say omnomnomnom to that

There is zero practical value in bothering, so you don't have to bother about all those things

Over the years at various stages:-

Depression

Anxiety

Agoraphobia

BDD

Acne Dysmorphia

Borderline Personality Disorder (not yet diagnosed but my CPN thinks I fit the bill due to my erratic behaviour in recent times.)

Othorexia Nervosa (eating disorder)

Trichotillomania

The last two or three months have been hell and I`ve become very ill and depressed. I`ve behaved appallingly and lost a real life friend because I bailed out on him and an online friend as well. I`m getting help now and I`m having an initial assessment for pyschotherapy on Tuesday. I`m paying for it privately as I need to do it for a very long time in order to tackle all of my issues. I`m at least starting to feel a little better in the past week or two, I`ve started attending a peer support group and I hope to go back to work very soon. Anyone else who has been affected by acne psychologically, you all have my utmost sympathy.

I developed the Orthorexia when I was around 17 years old after getting into holistic medicine, due to what else... acne. There was a time when it got so severe I was eating absolutely nothing but spinach and those "kooky supplements" for well over 8 months, I have no idea how I even survived looking back.

I also did a radical colon cleanse suggested by a quack holistic doctor that literally almost killed me.

Over the years at various stages:-

Depression

Anxiety

Agoraphobia

BDD

Acne Dysmorphia

Borderline Personality Disorder (not yet diagnosed but my CPN thinks I fit the bill due to my erratic behaviour in recent times.)

Othorexia Nervosa (eating disorder)

Trichotillomania

The last two or three months have been hell and I`ve become very ill and depressed. I`ve behaved appallingly and lost a real life friend because I bailed out on him and an online friend as well. I`m getting help now and I`m having an initial assessment for pyschotherapy on Tuesday. I`m paying for it privately as I need to do it for a very long time in order to tackle all of my issues. I`m at least starting to feel a little better in the past week or two, I`ve started attending a peer support group and I hope to go back to work very soon. Anyone else who has been affected by acne psychologically, you all have my utmost sympathy.

I developed the Orthorexia when I was around 17 years old after getting into holistic medicine, due to what else... acne. There was a time when it got so severe I was eating absolutely nothing but spinach and those "kooky supplements" for well over 8 months, I have no idea how I even survived looking back.

I also did a radical colon cleanse suggested by a quack holistic doctor that literally almost killed me.

Bubble55 I`m sorry to hear that, I hope you are recovering now.

For many years, I avoided all dairy, junk food, fatty foods, refined sugar, sweetened fruit juices, soft drinks, sweets, desserts, chocolate and caffeine. It was all because I was terrified of breaking out in acne. It hasn`t had a massively adverse effect on my health but I`ve always been a little underweight as a consequence. Recently, I have been very depressed and unwell and because I`ve almost stopped caring, I actually have been doing the reverse and stuffing my face with all the things I have denied myself for years. I`ve put on about a stone and a half (21 pounds) in weight and the ironic thing is that my skin isn`t that much worse than it was when I was eating healthily. Having said that I think I`d have preferred to have stayed as I was than to have gone through everything I have in the past couple of months.

Over the years at various stages:-

Depression

Anxiety

Agoraphobia

BDD

Acne Dysmorphia

Borderline Personality Disorder (not yet diagnosed but my CPN thinks I fit the bill due to my erratic behaviour in recent times.)

Othorexia Nervosa (eating disorder)

Trichotillomania

The last two or three months have been hell and I`ve become very ill and depressed. I`ve behaved appallingly and lost a real life friend because I bailed out on him and an online friend as well. I`m getting help now and I`m having an initial assessment for pyschotherapy on Tuesday. I`m paying for it privately as I need to do it for a very long time in order to tackle all of my issues. I`m at least starting to feel a little better in the past week or two, I`ve started attending a peer support group and I hope to go back to work very soon. Anyone else who has been affected by acne psychologically, you all have my utmost sympathy.

I developed the Orthorexia when I was around 17 years old after getting into holistic medicine, due to what else... acne. There was a time when it got so severe I was eating absolutely nothing but spinach and those "kooky supplements" for well over 8 months, I have no idea how I even survived looking back.

I also did a radical colon cleanse suggested by a quack holistic doctor that literally almost killed me.

Bubble55 I`m sorry to hear that, I hope you are recovering now.

For many years, I avoided all dairy, junk food, fatty foods, refined sugar, sweetened fruit juices, soft drinks, sweets, desserts, chocolate and caffeine. It was all because I was terrified of breaking out in acne. It hasn`t had a massively adverse effect on my health but I`ve always been a little underweight as a consequence. Recently, I have been very depressed and unwell and because I`ve almost stopped caring, I actually have been doing the reverse and stuffing my face with all the things I have denied myself for years. I`ve put on about a stone and a half (21 pounds) in weight and the ironic thing is that my skin isn`t that much worse than it was when I was eating healthily. Having said that I think I`d have preferred to have stayed as I was than to have gone through everything I have in the past couple of months.

Oh that was a while ago, back in 2007 (the cleanse). I haven't done anything crazy like that in years and never will again as it's futile in it's efficacy (doesn't do sh*t for acne) and it's simply just dangerous.

I encourage everyone doing these cleanses, deductive (eliminating dairy, gluten ect.) or specific diets to really watch themselves carefully or you may find yourself on the path to an eating disorder that is really hard to shake (it will put you in mental hell). And all the supplements and herbs can also be dangerous so please carefully monitor that too.

Another that I find dreadfully depressing is that despite my restrictive eating of all those "forbidden foods" and mega healthy diet/lifestyle by the time I was 21 I ended up being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis... it was as though my efforts to stay healthy were all for nothing, sickness hit anyway.

Neither did my skin ever improve. I could live off a Mcdonald's diet for weeks and then a raw vegan diet for weeks after and literally see zero difference in my skin as well. it's like at this point... why bother *sigh*.

Hecks yeah. It's screwed me more than anything. I actually had depression since a pretty young age so it only got worse after acne. But acne didn't start it, I've always have had self-image issues, not that I am extremely vain but sometimes IDK , some other mind takes over my own (if that makes sense). I did develop anxiety, well to be more specific, social anxiety, to the point where my mom things I'm autistic, not that it's supposed to be funny(I have a family member who IS) but I just find it hilarious. None of my family really gets my soc.anxiety except I think for my dad a little bit bc he's the one with the "lucky" genes, so maybe he sort of relates, who knows since he has never talked about his acne story very much with me. But yeah it sucks, depression for me even worse bc there are times where it's really strong to the point where, well you know where it heads...I even think about it, if at this moment I didn't have any acne , I'm still scarred for life

.

Social anxiety as a by product of Body Dysmorphic Disorder due to bullying and anxiety over my skin and other things. This is the only thing I've actually been diagnosed with. Maybe a few more things like depression but I don't believe in self diagnosis.

Social anxiety as a by product of Body Dysmorphic Disorder due to bullying and anxiety over my skin and other things. This is the only thing I've actually been diagnosed with. Maybe a few more things like depression but I don't believe in self diagnosis.

You are a very beautiful person