The Psychological Damage of Acne

Zits, pimples, whiteheads, blackheads, and boils are just a few of the terms for acne. Most people get to experience the painful and unattractive red bumps that are associated with acne. Not only is acne unpleasant for others to look at, it can be extremely painful on the inside, as well as the outside. Many high schoolers and adults have experienced the psychological damage of acne in addition to the temporary and long term physical effects. There can be extreme personality changes that can happen almost overnight in many people when they wake up to find a red, sore acne spot on their face.

There are two very different types of acne but as anyone will tell you, they both completely suck. Mild acne is just your small whiteheads that vanish within a few days whether you leave them alone, use some sort of cream or acne fighter on them, or pop them. Sever cystic acne is something else entirely. Sure you will still have the mild acne that tons of people you know have but in addition, you can have very large and very deep cysts and boils that are pus pockets and can hurt worse than anything you can think of. When you lance or pop one of these boils or cysts, in addition to having to go through many layers of skin and tissue, not only will you pump out blood and pus, but odds are you will have an ugly and deep scar that may stay with you for the rest of your life.

You might think "It's just acne, it'll go away and it isn't that bad." While many do share that point of view, more than you think are being damaged psychologically and having their very lives ruined and changed forever. That may sound a little drastic but as someone who had bad acne in high school, I can relate to this first hand.

Teasing is especially painful for people with severe cases of acne because many people with acne feel they can't do anything about it. People with glasses can get contacts to avoid teasing and fat people can diet and exercise. Before the discovery of using B5 vitamins for acne treatment the only really effective treatment was prescription Accutane which carries with it an expensive cost and many negative side effects.