Coping with Acne - Self-Esteem

My parents showed me that being smart was something that I could be proud of. I may not have been the prettiest girl in the class but my mom showed me I could compete with any girl with my brains. So instead of resorting to retreating to deal with my acne, I became a part of the nerd crowd in high school. In the nerd crowd, there were people who too had acne, had no sense of fashion, was disproportionate, or was a loner, but was smarter than most.

What I learned was that my self-esteem didn't have to built on what I looked like, I could place my self-esteem and pride in knowing that I was smart. Wow, what a wonderful gift my parents gave me! My mom may not have bought me makeup to hide my acne, may not have understood all of my concerns about having acne, didn't know which products to buy for me, but she did give me the gift of knowing that I was a smart young lady! That gift has brought me to where I am today: a successful attorney, songwriter, entrepreneur, writer, singer, etc.

Thedy B

Acne as a teen

As a young girl, I was so looking forward to "growing up." I couldn't wait until I fully developed and looked like the other girls. Well I did grow up. But I didn't like what started happening to my body as I did grow. For one, I was typically one of the tallest girls in the classroom. So I was constantly teased for being tall. And because I was tall, I couldn't hide in the background so that people couldn't see me. Secondly, I didn't develop proportionately. And three: When the kids saw and noticed me, they, like everyone else, saw my skin.

I don't remember when I saw my first pimple. The color of my skin is light brown so pimples show up fairly prominently. In the winter when I don't tan as much, my skin is even lighter. So the acne was even more visible. As the acne grew from one bump to multiple bumps, from just one spot on my face to covering my face, I began to have self-esteem, self-image, and self-loathing issues. As you'll see in my upcoming blogs, I tried all kinds of things as a teenager to help me cope with having acne. A few non-conventional methods of coping with acne actually helped. Some typical ways did not help me cope with having acne. Keep reading for more details.

Thedy B