Question by Peter M: Could my anxiety disorder be causing acne?
Is it true that stress causes acne, because generalized anxiety disorder definitely causes stress (and a lot of it). But I was wondering: how much of my acne does that account for?

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Anxiety is a common problem in modern day society and is a common symptom of stress. In stressful situations, anxiety is normal, it’s when anxious feelings start to take over your life that it becomes a problem. Typical symptoms of anxiety are feelings of dread, worry, panic, apprehension, doom, insomnia, loose bowels, sweating, muscle tension, dizziness, hyperventilation, flushing, irritability, fatigue, palpitations, stomach problems, tremor, sweating and restlessness. These symptoms are usually associated with what may happen. In some people who feel anxious, anxiety is linked with depression so it is always wise to consult your doctor if you have anxious symptoms.

To combat anxiety, it is best to find out what is causing the stress, try to reduce the stress by taking up counselling, meditation, group therapy, yoga and relaxing more. Some people who suffer from anxiety have found acupuncture beneficial. Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and substances that contain caffeine such as coffee, carbonated drinks, tea, chocolate and caffeine containing medication. Many anxieties suffers find that the herbs Valerian and Kava Kava help them to feel calm and reduce the symptoms of anxiety. There are many different makes of relaxing supplements that can be bought in health food shops that contain these herbs mixed with others that help you to feel calm. Some people also find Bach Rescue Remedy helpful when suffering from anxiety.

The following supplements may help if you are suffering from Anxiety.

B group vitamins

Calcium

Chamomile

Hops

Kava Kava

Magnesium

Multivitamins and multiminerals

St John’s wort

Valerian

Types of Acne

Acne is a general term used to describe the result of plugged pores on the face, back, or chest. Generally characterized by red bumps and whiteheads, acne also includes blackheads and lumps that form beneath the skin.

The following conditions are generally referred to as acne, but each condition has particular traits.

Comedo – The condition when a sebaceous follicle becomes clogged with a combination of sebum (released from the sebaceous gland under the skin), dead skin cells, tiny hairs, dirt, oil, and bacteria. When the comedo is open and exposed to oxygen from the air, it becomes dark in appearance, forming what is commonly known as a blackhead. A closed comedo forms a small bump beneath the skin, and takes on a skin tone or slightly white appearance, commonly known as a whitehead.

Papule – A small, solid bump that elevates slightly above the skin surface. Typically the coloring of a papule matches that of the skin. Several papules grouped together are rough to the tough, having an almost sandpaper type feel to them.

Pustule – A small, fluid filled bump that elevates above the skin surface and is topped by puss. This bump is filled with a mixture of white blood cells, bacteria, sebum, and dead skin cells.

Nodule – Similar to a papule, nodules are solid bumps that elevate slightly above the skin. The main difference is that a nodule also develops deep into skin layers and is one of the leading causes of scaring from acne. This type of acne can be very painful and is more difficult to treat than other forms.

Cyst – Similar to a pustule, a cyst is a fluid filled bump that elevates above the skin and is topped by puss. A cyst is also filled with a mixture of white blood cells, bacteria, sebum, and dead skin cells and becomes severely inflamed. A cyst will form deeper into the skin layers and can be quite painful and is the other leading cause of scaring from acne. Like nodule acne, a cyst can be difficult to treat.

Macule – The red or pinkish spot left after an acne lesion has healed. Depending on the severity of the initial lesion, the discoloration may last for a few days to a few weeks before subsiding.

The problem is, most people lump all these various types of acne into one group, and just call it acne. This wouldn’t be an issue, except that they each react differently to various forms of treatment, and what works for one will not necessarily work for all.

This is further complicated because some people experience more than one form of acne at a time. It is very common to have both a pustule outbreak, and a cystic outbreak simultainously.

Because of these facts about acne, treatment is not always simple and straightforward. Benzoyl peroxide, or tea tree oil are usually a safe bet when first trying to treat acne. Some people will never need anything more than this. However, for those of you who have tried 1, several, or many treatments without success, it may be helpful to determine the types of acne you suffer from, and treat each type as suggested by a dermatologist.

Again, there is no 100% acne fix. However, knowing the type of acne you suffer from can help you find a treatment that will work best for you.

Well, for about a year now (probally since I’m old enough to pay attention to newstabs on yahoo! and understand more things about the world and stuff) I’ve had this anxiety… well, i dont know if youd call it an anxiety, more like a fear of phobia really… anyways, yeah, that someone is going to:
break into our house and steal things/murder us/kidnap us then eat us/rape us (me and my little siblings, since we’re kids). Like right now, for example. I mean, I’ve even read things before on a tv show where they were interviewing a serial killer (he was behind bars of course) and he said ‘yeah, before i got caught, we’d (him and one of his killer friends or whatever) go to a neighborhood at night, and start going down a street and opening each doorknob (to see if it was unlocked or not) and if the house was locked, we’d move on. if it wasnt, we would go inside and kill everyone that was in there.’ well, thats one thing that MAJORLY freaked me out, and now im always paranoid about keeping the front and back door locked 24/7, and any time both my parents leave the house at once, i always dial 911 on my phone and have it sitting there so incase anything did happen, i would just have to press the call button. anytime i hear a creek in the house, a car or car door, or anything else, i get tense and get an addrenaliene rush (like, the thing that goes into your head when youre in danger, the “Fight or Flight” mode). and it doesnt help that my parents go out to dinner alot and do grocery shopping after the little ones are in bed, so it would be easier. im home alone right now actually, and thats what brought the fear to mind again. i could the seconds until they come home, and infact, the reason of this fear is most likely the reason i have as much acne as i do. anyways, on to my questions:
Would this be considered an anxiety or phobia? and what would the anxiety or phobia be called?

Also, does anyone have any tips on how to relaxe when home alone, like any normal 7th grader should? nothing with that much noise, any time im home alone i always mute or turn off the tv so i can hear if anyone is here, so no music either. i mainly just sit on the staircase or on my bed, with my laptop, on yahoo answers searching for questions like this and googling stuff like ‘what should i do if someone breaks into my house?’… oh yeah, and since i dont have pepper spray, i keep either a bottle of perfume or carpet spray (the spray you use to get rid of dog urine stains on the carpet, and its always around since my puppy does that alot). Sorry it’s long, i tend to overexplain things.

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If you have anxiety disorder then I hope you read this and you will most likely understand me.

I am going to be brutally honest with this, because I never talk to this to ANYONE.
And i always keep it all inside. I think is good for me to let it out for once.
I am usually quite positive about my condition, but today I just feel hopeless.
im not whining, just letting out my emotions.
SORRY IT’S LONG!

Can life get any more miserable?
I suffer from social anxiety disorder and over all anxiety disorder.
Because, I’ve always been a very nervous person.
I think this is due to the fact that I also have Hyper hidrosis condition,
which is that my body sweats excessively especially my hands and feet.
My sweating glands work more than normal.

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I am 22 years old and I have cystic acne and really big ears that stick out pretty much as far as they can. Of course when I was little I got teased a bunch because of my ears. Then my second year of college my face broke out in cystic acne, Today my acne is not as bad as it was back then…but I still break out and cystic acne is very painful and noticeable. I find it really hard to leave the house sometimes. Sometimes I don’t even feel like going to class because I pretty much look and feel like an ugly piece of shit. When people talk to me I can notice them staring at my skin and I feel like punching them in the face. It makes me extremely nervous no matter whom it is. And when I don’t leave the house, I hate it when people come over because most of the time I have a gigantic cyst on the side of my face, so I hide out in my room with acne medication on my face praying that nobody knocks at my door. …I really don’t show that all this stuff makes me sad. So most of the people in my family think I’m fine…they even have the nerve to talk about bad acne with there friends when I’m sitting right there in the living room…it only happened once but it drove me crazy! I think my ears and acne give me Anxiety every day of my life. I feel very nervous a lot because of how I look. I don’t have a social life because I just can’t do it. It’s also extremely hard talking to girls I find attractive. I know I can probably pay for plastic surgery once I graduate I’ll just have to live at home a while longer. But as of right now I’m thinking about going to a doctor and telling them basically what I jut typed. Don’t think I’m druggie but I really think I need some anti Anxiety pills or something. Do I just go see my regular doctor and tell him I have Anxiety…is what I’m even explaining considered Anxiety???? Please help
My mom has Anxiety. She takes klonopins

I just encountered this on a website for teens, It’s called social phobia, said in myyearbook. Some of the characteristics given are being experienced by I, like: just walking in the mall, sometimes, I look down, and talk to my mom to excuse myself(I’m fat and tall), I am not nervous in conducting public speaking outside my school, butI am bad at presenting myself and show some talent at the first day of the School Year(I hate that!!!), I get nervous and back-down on an event that includes performing AT MY CLASSMATES AND SCHOoLMATES[My nervousness doesn't come before the performance, but AT THE PERFORMANCE, that's why- I CAN"T DO MY BESTEST_BEST!!!!]. Is it because of my obesity and having acnes? I act dorky when I am at school, but I do have friends like 8 or something—I don’t like the behavior of spoiled-richER students at my school. I just want to do my best and to be happy. There was one group of boys that were my classmates in my sophomore year in highschool that talks about me.
They were like teasing me behind my back, like back-stabbers, but I didn’t aggravate them. I feel hurt when they do that to me, causing me to be nervous at class presentation, what did I do? Maybe I am just too sensitive? I just don’t really like to be teased by striking words. I am not that close to my classmates but I am nice to them, are they taking advantage of me? They do not even cheer for me like they hate me, man this really sucks! I feel like I’m out-of-place, but I go crazy with my friends hehe, Is there something wrong about me? I admit, I can’t let go of the past that much, and I am WATER-ROOSTER-CANCERIAN girl, I feel like there are some connections of my personality to my birth. Pleae help x(

I’m 20 years old male. my last sexual encounter was protected oral and vaginal sex 5 months ago.
Condom didnt break (trustex). I asked my sexual partner to get tested and she did so, 4 months and 19 days after the intercourse. she tested negative for hiv and hpv. my other sexual encounter was with another female on 13th of june. I had protected oral and vaginal. condom didnt break(durex). 4 months and 15 days later i got tested for hiv.I tested negative.she got tested as well and her results came up negative but I’m afraid if she was on the window period. she has been with another 4-5 guys. I wanna know if I can rely on the protection I’ve used and on my test results. note that I have never had unprotected sex without a condom, except one time oral with a virgin. I dont have fever. I do not vomit nor have any swollen lymph nodes. the only thing I’ve had is diarrhea 4-5 times so far in a period of 6 months which never lasted more than 2 days and It occured 2-3 times a day max. Another thing that makes me worried is my back acnes. I never had acnes on my back before. now I get it.
I really need help because I’m freaking out and I’m afraid to death
I never sleep well lately nor I sleep to long. I’m stressed out.
is it real that the only accurate result is after 6 months of the last exposure???
I just wish I’m fine and I’ll never have sex again without my partners getting tested beforehand.
next time I might do it it will most probably be with my gf/fiance/(future)wife…
please be kind or dont answer at all if you just want to scare me or joke around.
I’d appreciate any answer especially from someone that might work in a clinic or is a std counseler/advisor/doctor.

I have low self esteem to start with, mostly caused by having bad acne. It gets to a point that it pretty much directly relates to the way I feel for the day (Bad breakout makes it excruciatingly hard for me to look people in the eye) And I cant get over it. I dont even feel like myself anymore and I go through the same nonstop cycle of day to day life that all seems to run together, wondering whether Im even alive anymore. I drive to school, come home and sit on my computer and listen to my family yell all day. I can’t even sit alone or try to meditate anymore without feeling anxious or having a near freakout.

Anyone have any tips on how to feel better day to day? I dont feel like i can live this way anymore

i am 17 years old ive been shy ever since i was 12 i home school im a dude im not fat or ugly
i have little acne i don’t get out much when i do my dad or mom usually is with me

i am attending a congregation and talking to people there.but when i talk (to anyone) its like
bob says: hi how are you doing, me: good how are you bob: im good just a little tired i didn’t sleep very good last night my dog wont stop barking, me:yeah dogs like to bark bob:……… me:…
….(i cant think of anything to say or am to scared to) bob starts looking around bob:well i got to go ill see you later bye me:bye the other person does all the talking

i want to be able to talk to people and have fun when people would invite me over to their house id always decline because it relived my fear, i get really nervous i sweat when i know i have to be with people that aren’t family(alone just me and other non close family),

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I don’t know what to do anymore.
I feel so intimidated by kids at my school, like I’m inferior to them.
I can’t talk to them without feeling like I’m gonna say something stupid.
I’m always afraid someone thinks I’m weird.
The only people I feel comfortable hanging out with are the people who are usually part of the unpopular crowd…they’re great people, but then I start to worry that the more popular girls are judging me on being one of them. I know it’s not a bad thing, only to those snobby little brats, but for some reason it matters.
I have to have my hair and makeup perfect, otherwise I hide my face all day. I have really bad acne, too, so that makes it 10x worse.
I feel so tense around everyone, like I’m compressed into a tiny little jar or something.
I dread going to gym, because I have to change in front of other girls..what will they think of me? But if I go in the bathroom to change, won’t everyone think I’m a loser?
I hate it when teachers tell you to find a partner to work with, because I usually don’t have a friend in most classes.
I can’t participate in sports or anything because I’m too anxious to be in a group like that. When I was little, kids always blamed me because I couldn’t catch the ball or some kind of reason.
I’m pretty much unapproachable.
Every time I see one of the popular girls walk by, I get this feeling of jealousy, almost hate, because of the clothes they can afford, the friends they have, the life they have…
HOW CAN I STOP THIS???

I’m sorry this was long…I needed to vent and I do need help.
My family knows about this and really cares, but I also have a family of procrastinators.