Our skin

Whether you like yours or not, it is the biggest organ you have and thus shouldn't be regarded as of minor importance.

Let me start this off by saying that I don't aim at rationalising skin problems. I myself have a long history with acne and to this day still deal with it. These days though, the health of my skin lies mostly within my control. Because acne has so fundamentally influenced my development as a person and because I know what the reality of severe acne can do to someone I believe it is my responsibility to share my experience and knowledge on the subject. Most importantly though I want to make sure you understand: There is a way out!
This post will mainly focus on the mindset required to escape the endless tunnels of acne but a more specific guide with professional advice is coming in the future.

Acknowledging the problem

As basic as it might sound, the first step towards overcoming acne is to ackowledge its existance. Now you might think of this statement to be quite unnecissary. Acne being so directly visible, how could anyone affected by it even ignore it? The answer, when something is as destructive to our lives as severe acne can be, our our minds find ways to protect themselves. We bend reality, become dellusional and make up a world for ourselves in which we can survive. In my personal case it took years until I finally acknowledged that I had a massive problem. During those years I had become a master at avoiding my problem, had become deeply inauthentic and had created a cognitive dissonance I am yet to fully overcome. The gap between reality and my distorted perspective had gotten so extreme that anxiety and constant mental distress became inevitable and caused major damage in all areas of my life.
If you want to get away from acne, stop lying to yourself. You have a problem and unless you face this reality, things are not going to get better.

Understanding the message

Let's keep it real, when in the middle of having severe acne it is incredibly difficult to look at it from a positive perspective. No judgement here, all of this is totally understandable. What you got to understand though is that acne isn't arbitrary. Although it might look as if acne was purely a surface problem, it actually goes way beyond that. Your body is trying to tell you something. Here I like to use the mirror metaphor. As an acne prone person your skin can be a pretty accurate and instant reflection of how well you live your life. From how well you eat, the quality of your sleep, to how well you cope with stress, your skin is telling you whether you are on track or not. Understand that your skin problems mirror internal imbalances and you will have already made a big step towards solving the problem.

Acne is a warning signal of our body.
Dr. Rini Kulke

Know your enemy

acne = genetic predispositions x lifestyle choices

Without wanting to paint a false picture of acne being the product of an equation as simple as the one above, this equation still carries quite some truth. Let's break it down. Some of us simply have a genetic predisposition for acne and unfortunaltely there isn't much we can do about that. In contrast to these random genetics though there luckily also are the concious lifestyle choices we make which we are for the most part in control of. What does this mean? In order to keep acne to a minimum we have to reduce the negative effects of our lifestyle choices that trigger the predispositions in the first place. On one hand this concludes it is solemly us responsible for the problem we are trying to solve, but it also means we are in the position to solve it. And isn't that good news?

Acne causes enormous suffering. One can use this pressure to change one's lifestyle. Others without acne don't have this motivation and thus struggle to get away from destructive habits.
Dr. Rini Kulke

A new life ahead

Acne has taught me many great lessons of which the biggest one is that I am responsible for what my life looks like. It made me a braver and more resilient individual capable of solving problems and acknowledging reality in its purest form. Sure, it took a lot of pain, anger and tears to get to this point but today I know that acne was never acutally my enemy but rather a wise friend, an experienced compagnon teaching me about life and leading the way towards a brighter future. Today, acne is my accountability partner. It keeps me on track with my goals, makes sure I don't get lost in the multidirectional pull of society and always reminds me to take care of myself. As cheesy as it might sound, acne truly is one of the greatest gifts I could have ever been given by life.

Conclusion

Looking at statistics of acne cases in countries all over the world it quickly becomes clear that acne isn't a rare phenomenon. And although so widely intertwined with our western society only few seem to understand that acne isn't all bad but that it can acutally be a pretty useful tool to improve our lives. Our skin is in many ways a mirror of what bubbles beneath the surface (german saying). As soon as we acknowledge this, acne allows us to find back to physical and mental balance and becomes an internal guide leading us to a happier, healthier and more sustainable life.