Anxiety, depression, social isolation: For women, the symptoms of acne transcend the physical.
By Rachel Krause
When considering various plagues and epidemics in recorded history, adult acne does not exactly spring to mind. The Black Death was widespread and devastating; measles is airborne and highly contagious. (Conveniently, it is also easily avoided with vaccine.) Acne, by comparison, seems like a walk in the pus-filled park. And, fine, labeling it an epidemic or a plague borders on the hyperbolic (though it wouldn’t be the first time it was said). Yet a whopping 85% of people between the ages of 12 and 24 experience some form of acne. That’s easy enough to write off as par for the course of adolescence, but the same can’t be said for adult patients — particularly women, who are reporting breakouts in record numbers.
Credit: refinery29.com
