My Story With Acne and Ways to Cope With It

By: Grayson T.

Acne, it is the skin condition from hell. Unsightly, unattractive, and often times painful, this condition can inflict a disastrous blow to someone’s psychological well-being, I know it has for me. I have suffered from cystic acne to the regular whitehead as well as a degree of red marks and scarring.  However, I am one of the lucky ones. I’ve always been considered attractive by peers and I’ve actually been asked out by many girls, but having acne has greatly lowered my self-esteem that no matter what anyone says, what I see in the mirror is not what I deem attractive and for anyone who goes through this phase, I feel for you.

Going out in public was a burden for me.  I’m afraid to look in the mirror because I was going to get depressed at what I saw. I was always insecure about looking people in the eye because I felt that my acne was the one staring looking at them. My grades dropped and my A’s in honors classes dropped to low B’s and C’s. I dropped being captain of my sports team and it got so bad that I could not even turn on the bathroom lights when I got ready for school.  My mood at home was always in constant anger and depression that it, unfortunately, affected my relationship with my parents. In a way, I let my acne rule me, but take it from me, don’t let it define you.

Now, this may seem hypocritical given my story, but I speak from experience. Often times we are so critical of ourselves that we forget to enjoy life. So I came to write this article to help you deal with it mentally. In my following articles, I will help you actually deal with the condition itself.

1. Seek Help

If you’re going through a rough time, whether it is acne or some other dilemma that you may be enduring, seek help. Get a friend, family member, speak on a forum, go to a close friend. In any case, find something. When my mom talked to me, she went through the same thing I did and she made it sound as if she had it worse. She gave me the support that I needed and even threw in that I only had acne so that the guys in my school would have a chance at the girls. Whether or not that was true, I did not care, it made me feel better and finding someone to talk to will does the same for you. Trust me.

2. Relax

Relax, my friend. Take out time of the day for yourself to just unwind and do something you enjoy. It may be watching TV, playing games, surfing the web, watching videos, eating flowers, whatever makes you happy is all that matters. Personally, I like to play tennis and football but since my worst phase of acne came during the winter season, that was not an option.  Instead, I turned to breathing exercises and yoga at night. This greatly relaxed me and for the only time in the day, I forget about my acne and everything else in the day for those 20 minutes and to me, that was extremely valuable. I highly recommend yoga with Adrienne found on YouTube. She has great videos for beginners to start you off with.

3. Don’t spend so much time brooding and be positive

Realize that many others like you suffer from this disease from hell. Those who don’t may dismiss your problem as little and that many go through worse things. While that may harbor some truth, branding one’s problem as less just because many go through worse is wrong. Any type of suffering affects everyone differently and don’t let anyone tell you your problem with acne is “little” because we all know that just isn’t true. Stay positive. I always found that envisioning my clear skin in 1-2 years always made me feel better and that this condition does not last forever even if it may feel like it. Don’t let acne rule you.

Thank you guys for reading! If all else fails, message me at graysont525@gmail.com. I will be more than happy to listen to you. Although I’m not an expert I’ll offer any support that I can. Have a great day and take care!