Acne Help: How To Get Rid Of The “Acne Voice” That Pulls You Down

Let's talk acne help. Especially, help for dealing with the emotional side of acne.

Got clear skin? Nope! You’re not alone. Acne affects around 50 million Americans. Emotionally, even more so than physically.

Let’s deal with the emotions first. It’s quicker. And helps more than getting rid of the acne itself. Acne help and emotional understanding is needed now more than ever.

The Pressure of Perfect Skin

There’s so much pressure to have perfect, clear skin. This pressure often turns inward. And self-worth gets tied to our skin’s condition. To our looks.

A young woman, who was struggling with acne, said she was in this dark place filled with self-doubt. She was playing out this “acne voice” in her head. She said,

“I can’t look people in the eyes. I don’t want anyone looking at me. I don’t want to look at the mirror.”

Because she thought “by normal people’s standards” she looked awful.

Healing More Than Just Your Complexion

Many of us have had a bad skin day, or a month. Even a bad few years as a teenager. And some continue to struggle with this later in life. As we work to heal the skin, it’s just as important to think of our mental health. So, acne help needs to be more than skin deep.

How to Handle the “Acne Voice”

That negative voice in your head that makes you full of doubt or hating yourself is NOT actually yours. It’s the voice of someone who dumped their emotional baggage and insecurity on you. Someone who judged you by your appearance.

That “acne voice”, IS NOT YOURS. And knowing this is a major first step.

Understanding Who You Hangout With

You spend more time with your thoughts than with any other human being on the planet. You hang out with that inner voice all-the-time. And the scariest part of “the acne voice” is that it becomes the dominant voice in your head.

The good news is that voice is not who you are. It’s just a voice. And you can change that tape.

KNOW: We are not born hating ourselves. We are not born with a voice of negativity. We innocently adopted that negative voice at some point.

What You Can Do To Change That Voice

Life gets much easier when you understand that THIS IS NOT YOUR VOICE. And you actually choose the voice in your head. And if you feel “the acne voice” is taking over, here’s what you do:

First thing you do is to break away from those who are putting you down. Negative energy is contagious. And you get in this vicious cycle.

Next, ask yourself who you are?

At some point you defined yourself as the person with acne. And that became such a core part of you, you started acting like it. Now you’re full of doubt, low on confidence, etc. You think about the acne all the time. You notice all the other people with acne around.

But you are so much more than that.

You may be a designer, an athlete, a parent, you are way more than the person with acne. And if you say I’m X, whoever you chose to be, that’s the identity you embrace. That’s who you are. That’s what defines you. And you act like it.

And that person doesn’t have “the acne voice”. That person has a different voice. A voice they choose. A voice that tells them to go out and live life. To make an impact. To be Happy.

And if you have a friend with an “acne voice” in their head, please share this with them.

Check out these additional OF Magazine articles related to healthy skin.