Acne Effects: More than Just Skin-Deep

Acne does more harm than just what is visible on the surface of the skin. Quite often, the psychological effects outweigh the physical ones. It is particularly the case of teenagers who suffer from acne. Our representations of beauty rely on the generally accepted conventions, and a face covered with pimples is most of the times believed to be ugly. To enable yourself or others to break free from this superficial attitude to acne, lets have a look at what it does and where it comes from.

During puberty and adolescence, the human body undergoes major changes, not only as far as the aspect is concerned, but also as regards the functioning of the hormonal glands. Unfortunately, this explanation is very often not enough to help people take a more relaxed attitude towards this condition. As a result, antisocial feelings can arise. Teenagers will often be embarrassed by the way they look. They can become quite self-conscious and may tend to avoid any social gatherings. Going to parties or to any place where they are likely to be seen by many people, can be quite hard to bear.

Of course, it would be good if you could make them aware that acne is not such a big problem. But if you tell it to them the wrong way, you risk stirring negative feelings inside them. They may even start hating either you or those people around them who are lucky to have a clearer skin. Communication with them may become very difficult in such cases. By preferring seclusion to social contacts, they can even end up lonely and depressed.

If one of the parents has, or had, similar problems, the teenager may blame that parent for this bad genetic heritage. Actually, the genetic links to acne can be stretched as far as two generations. In other words, even grandparents genes can be held responsible.

But teenagers are not the only ones whose happiness can suffer on account of acne. In fact, adults display quite similar behavior, avoiding contact with other people as much as they can. Acne can severely affect their self-confidence and threaten their personal and professional relationships.

It is very important to remember, however, that acne is not a disease. Isolating ourselves will not help us get rid of it. Moreover, there is a lot more to a person than just his or her looks, so instead of feeling ashamed of some red spots and pimples, we should just make sure that other qualities of ours are visible enough.

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