The good news is that acne really doesn’t pose a physical threat to your health. It hurts but it goes away quickly and most of us never even have to speak to a doctor about it. The bad news about acne is that it can take a severe toll on our mental health, especially your self-esteem.You Aren’t Alone

When you are a teenager whose face is covered in painful red splotches it can be very easy to start thinking that you are all alone. You need to remember that most of your peers are going through the exact same thing. Approximately 85% of the country’s 12-24 year old population is struggling to cope with acne.

Don’t Obsess

Part of the reason that an outbreak of acne has such a big effect on our self confidence is because of when it happens. Most of us develop acne during our teenage years, a time when everything seems like a big deal. Because stress can be a trigger for acne there is often a snowball effect, a teenager gets a pimple, stresses about the pimple and breaks out in two more pimples. The best way to prevent this from happening is to simply accept that you have a small spot on your face and get on with your life. Soon the pimple will fade and you will forget all about its existence.

Don’t be Passive

One of the biggest mistakes that teenagers often make when it comes to coping with acne is that they take a passive approach. They wake up in the morning and look in the mirror when they see a zit they just assume that their life is over. What you have to remember is that no one notices your acne as much as you do. Just because you have a small spot on your face is no reason to hide from life. Ignore your pimple and have some fun.

Take Control

A proactive approach to your acne is the best approach. Being proactive means that you have to think about what kind of effect your diet has on your complexion and using the proper facial care products. If you think that you are doing everything properly and you are still being plagued by outbreaks of acne you should seek additional assistance from a professional dermatologist.

Having a positive attitude will have a positive effect on your acne.

Besides the well-known, undesired and very-hard-to-get-rid-of physical effects of acne, of course there is a lot more. A lot more all these people have to endure and cope with on a daily basis: the emotional side of the story, the so called ‘quiet’ or ‘unseen’ impact of acne.

During our whole lifetime we own a special private ‘visit card’ – our face, look or appearance. With predilection in the young adulthood, we all express ourselves through our looks, and if by ‘looks’ we sadly refer to a face full of pimples and red spots, well…it’s not quite as outgoing and pleasant for others to gauge at our ‘attractiveness’.

Those who suffer from acne usually blame no one else or nothing else but themselves, because they simply don’t understand their condition. Busting the myths about acne may help you understand the causes of this disease and take precautious measures to control it.

Acne has an important impact on the way people perceive ‘life’: they understand that they have to step aside from any social environment, by isolating themselves as much and often as they can, their self-esteem and self-respect get very low, they are depressed, angry, anxious. Most times these feelings of rage and worthlessness lead to suicidal tendencies. When a treatment is given to them, they feel confused and frustrated, they feel their social life is being limited by force, and they tend to find themselves in or to create difficult and awkward relationships with the rest of their family.

These effects are often related to each other and form a powerful impact on the patients, discouraging them when they try to pursuit some social opportunities, either it is at work or at school. An article written by Sulzberger and Zaidems in 1984 said the following: ‘there is no any other disease that could cause more psychical pain, more misunderstandings between parents and children, more general insecurity and more feelings of inferiority and also more psychical sufferance than acne vulgaris is causing’.

The implication is quite obvious; acne hurts more in the inside than on the outside. It is crucial that patients understand that it is not their fault. Contrary to the popular belief, acne is not caused by what a person does, eats, washes his/her face, but by a lot of combined factors that have their origins in the skin.

Many times people who should consider themselves lucky they do not have to confront with acne tend to wrongfully underestimate the emotional and social impact of acne. It is a serious matter and we should all have more consideration for those suffering. Sometimes the mental stress of those affected by acne is greater than the stress associated with other chronic diseases, such as asthma, back pains, hearts diseases or diabetes.

The results of a study have shown the fact that 18 percent of acne patients reported serious depression and 44 percent reported anxiety. These people live in a real ‘depth of despair’, properly illustrated by another study reporting that 6 percent of patients thought about putting an end to their lives.

The social impacts of acne are also very likely to affect one’s ability to earn his or her living. There are studies that indicate the fact that those who suffer from this skin condition are prone to unemployment more than those who do nor have to deal with this shameful disease, and also there is a Canadian study that shows the fact that people with more severe acne are more likely to be unemployed than those with lesser involvement; nevertheless, the exact cause of these findings is rather uncertain: we do not know if these are due to the fact that the employer might find it difficult to hire someone whose face is covered in pimples, or because of that person’s psychosocial impairment.

Acne may cause a deep emotional sufferance, but, if you have acne, the idea that you are not facing this horrible skin condition alone, by your own, and that the related treatments have seemingly evolved and there is a way to find a solution even for you should keep you going.

A recent study evaluated job-search results for people with acne. It also looked at the probability that employers would hire someone affected by acne. The results showed that low self-esteem caused people with acne to do poorly at job interviews, but it also showed a prejudice among employers in favor of clear-skinned applicants. So you see how important it is to break that cycle!

Years ago, grownups admonished teenagers to avoid acne by eliminating certain foods, such as chocolate or French fries. They also told teens that sex would make their skin worse. Today we know that neither of these old beliefs holds true! Most likely, it boils down to genetics. There are some known contributing factors, such as:

-Oil in cosmetics and moisturizers, especially if skin isn’t cleansed regularly.
-Hormonal fluctuations in teen and young adult women starting about a week before their period.
-Environmental factors such as working in a fast-food place or a dirty garage.
-Pressure to the skin, like too much scrubbing during cleansing, or wearing a helmet of some kind.
-Bacterial inflammation within the skin pores, which worsens when people pick at their skin and spread the bacteria.
-Stress, anxiety, and depression.

Scientists have been studying the relationship between stress and oil production in the pores. Increased levels of stress have been shown to reduce two important skin vitamins, A and E. And our skin is negatively affected by a chemical called Leukotriene B4 (LTB4) because it increases the production of skin oil, called sebum. But an omega-3 fish oil called Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) limits the production of LTB4, which is a good thing for your skin!

In the process of studying these chemicals, the scientists noticed that many of them were gaining a reputation for fighting stress, anxiety, and depression. They realized that since stress lowers vitamins A and E, and fish oil fights stress and depression, a combination therapy might be useful in fighting depression and promoting skin health.

Their interest soared when they factored in another contributing cause of acne. People with abnormal blood sugar and insulin levels have increased amounts of acne. Studies showed that populations consuming diets high in fish oil had decreased sugar and insulin problems. So, people with good blood sugar and insulin levels were most likely to have clear skin.

Initial results are very positive! People who took 1000 mg of an omega-3 fish oil containing EPA for at least two months showed an average 36% decrease in the amount of pimples and blackheads. They showed an astonishing 75% decrease in the amount of swollen red bumps. Just as significant, their mental outlooks before and after this therapy were evaluated using a standardized test to measure depression and stress. After being on EPA for at least two months, their outlooks improved by an average of 24%.

What does this mean to you? Scientists are still studying the fish oil and acne connection. But these results propose a specific connection between the two. It means that taking fish oil can improve mental stresses that cause acne. It means that taking fish oil can improve acne that causes stress. It means that it’s time to begin therapy with an omega-3 fish oil supplement! Look at it this way-with a better chance at landing a great job, you’ll spend fewer years working in a fast-food place.

Do you want to get rid of your acne permanently in 3 days, using a natural and scientifically proven method? Discover how a 10 years chronic acne victim manage to do that at: http://www.restoreyourconfidence.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Jin