1st Day of School Stress and Acne
The new school year is starting once again and the first day of school can cause a lot of stress and consequently, acne. Some adolescents hit puberty in junior high and this is when their acne starts. Having stress or anxiety about the 1st day of school doesn’t help. In addition to that, we are in a once in a lifetime pandemic. What can we do to manage 1st day of school stress and acne?
5 likely school stressors
- COVID-19 / illness / safety
- New school jitters
- Making friends
- Previous difficulty in school or anxiety about the upcoming year
- Personal troubles
Let’s go through each of these one by one…
COVID-19 stress
We’re still in the middle of this pandemic and it hasn’t been easy. There are so many unknowns and for those of you who aren’t good with uncertainty, it makes it that much more difficult. Maybe you know someone who got sick. Perhaps that person got better…or maybe they didn’t. It’s very scary, sad, and stressful. In stressful times, we have a hard time coping and we may not make the best or healthiest decisions about how to care for ourselves.
New school jitters
What stage of life are you in? Is your child just going into junior high? Perhaps you or your teenager is starting high school. Maybe college? No matter the setting, we can all get nervous about going to a new school. If you’re shy or introverted (like me), you get anxiety just thinking about having to meet new people. This is normal. If you’re introverted, that’s OK. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you shouldn’t be feeling the way you do. I get anxiety all the time in new situations. But, this can really lead to 1st day of school stress and acne.
Making friends
Whether you’re starting a new school or not, if you’ve always had trouble making friends, this can be an added stressor for you. Friendships come and go and if your friend moved away, you may be in a situation where you have to make new friends. This is hard especially when friendships have been established.
Previous difficulty in school / anxiety about the coming year
There are many reason why you may have had previous difficulty in school and thus anxiety about the upcoming year. Maybe there’s a bully in school and you were afraid to tell anyone. Or, worse – maybe you told someone and no one did anything about it. Alternately, maybe you had an illness and couldn’t keep up with your schoolwork last year but you still passed. This can cause a lot of anxiety about being up to speed for this coming year.
Personal troubles
Life is so hard. Each one of us deals with stress (and life) differently – depending on how we were taught (or not taught) how to cope. When we have to figure it out on our own, without any guidance, this is the most difficult. Or, maybe you had a support system but the personal troubles you were facing were just so overwhelming like a death in the family or divorce.
Results
Depending on your age or circumstance, you may turn to food, drugs / alcohol, or other destructive behaviors just to cope. No judgement here because none of us are perfect. When we’re stressed and anxious about the first day of school, we can either get constipated or we get a “nervous stomach”. (Nervous stomach can sometimes be characterized by diarrhea or loose bowels.) I talked about constipation acne in another post. You can see it here. Stress can lead to constipation, which can lead to acne. Bottom line is that we need to manage our stress.
Coping
So, how do we cope with 1st day of school stress and acne? Here are a few ways that I use to manage when stress is getting the best of me.
- Breathe – breathing is not an easy task when we’re stressed. Our chest feels tight and we don’t get a lot of air into our lungs. Still, I make a conscious effort to breathe. It’s hard, though. I know. Use this in conjunction with the other suggestions.
- Meditation – also not an easy task when you’re stressed. It’s hard to quiet a racing mind but just the act of trying to meditate is beneficial. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t get into that “zen” state because you are still deriving benefits from trying.
- Juicing – making yourself a lovely beverage can be helpful. Juicing for acne (and stress) not only gets your mind off things but has health benefits. Plus, it’s so yummy.
- Smoothies for acne prone skin – smoothies are another great alternative. These can be even yummier so find yourself a delicious smoothie recipe and relax!
You can read the full article about the 4 suggestions to reduce acne and it’s effects.
