\u201cI was shocked. I had always believed I would be remembered as the girl with terrible acne.\u201d <\/p>\n
Skin dysmorphia is an increasingly recognised condition, where the sufferer looks in the mirror and believes there are imperfections all over their face. This can lead to an obsessive and complex skincare routine in a bid to achieve the type of flawless skin commonly flaunted (thanks to filters and foundation) on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram Reels. <\/p>\n
Signs of the condition include checking in the mirror excessively, being dissatisfied with aesthetic or medical skin treatments, compulsively using or trying new products and procedures, experiencing intense emotional stress over minor or invisible skin issues, and even avoiding social situations because of the way you think your skin looks.<\/p>\n
The all-encompassing illness often appears alongside depression, anxiety, isolation, and loss of work or low grades, as sufferers get stuck in a loop of staring at the face they hate in the mirror, picking apart their reflection and trying to \u201cfix\u201d it \u2013 through whatever dangerous or costly means they can. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe emotional and financial costs were enormous,\u201d says Perry. \u201cI have likely spent tens of thousands of dollars on skincare.\u201d <\/p>\n
Excessive skincare routines, with numerous steps, active agents or excessive scraping and scrubbing, are often adopted by skin dysmorphia sufferers and can expose people to a myriad of health risks, including scarring, irritation, and sun damage \u2013 or worse. <\/p>\n
In one case, a previously healthy 44-year-old woman suffered a seizure and liver toxicity hepatitis<\/a>, which, researchers concluded, stemmed from prolonged exposure to titanium dioxide in her skincare products. <\/p>\n While this is an extreme case, it\u2019s not uncommon for fears over acne to keep patients hooked on intense treatments for far longer than necessary. <\/p>\n Maddie Ogle, 22, was put on 150mg of spironolactone for her hormonal acne when she was 20. The medication \u2013 a diuretic, which can cause dizziness, low energy, skin rashes, headaches and loss of libido \u2013 cleared her skin, but she became too afraid to come off of it, even though by this point she\u2019d been weaned down to 20mg as her treatment came to a close. <\/p>\n \u201cI kept having all these side effects,\u201d she says. \u201cBut my skin looked good, so I thought I\u2019d rather deal with a few weird things than the depression of having acne. I would get tiny breakouts and be convinced it was happening again. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad that I had my mum and my boyfriend around me to tell me you need to care about your health and your mental health more than your skin because it\u2019s going to be fine and it, and it was, so I’m glad I listened to them,\u201d she reflects of her decision to come off of the medication and see how her skin responded (well). <\/p>\n \u201cI was just exhausted; my skin was literally the only thing on my mind.\u201d <\/p>\n Skin dysmorphia is a specific form of body dysmorphic disorder<\/a> (BDD), a mental health condition involving intense, obsessive preoccupation with imagined or slight flaws in physical appearance that are often unnoticeable to others. This can mean that those suffering from skin dysmorphia are less likely to get the help they need, as patients will often go to dermatologists to treat their perceived skin issues, rather than seeking mental health support.<\/p>\n It deeply impacted my self-esteem and self-worth and made me more vulnerable to abusive relationships<\/p>\n \u201cThe psychological effects deeply impacted my self-esteem and self-worth and made me more vulnerable to abusive relationships,\u201d Perry reflects about her own symptoms. <\/p>\n Awareness of the condition is growing. In January 2026, doctors recommended that further steps be taken for the symptoms to be identified, through a new Skin Dysmorphia Scale (SDS) published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology<\/a>, to \u201curgently necessitate\u201d comprehensive assessment and management of the condition. However, it\u2019s still up to practitioners whether or not they use it. <\/p>\n The psychologist and mental health researcher Dr Eleanor Chatburn says she\u2019d like to see more communication between dermatologists, aesthetic practitioners and mental health specialists to stop people falling through the cracks. \u201cI have worked with dermatologists before who are very ethical,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019ll screen for dysmorphia and decline to treat people who have it or refer them first to a psychologist. But there are also plenty of people who will happily take people\u2019s money and offer them a whole course of various treatments.\u201d <\/p>\n She points out that alerting a patient that they might be suffering from a mental health issue can be a hard conversation to have. \u201cPeople can still be in the mindset that it\u2019s definitely a skin problem,\u201d says Chatburn. \u201cThey\u2019re going to a dermatologist or aesthetic practitioner because they want a quick, external fix. If they hear, \u2018this may not be fixable in the way you think it is,\u2019 some people don\u2019t come back because they desperately want a certain product or laser treatment. So, they find someone who\u2019ll sell it to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Chatburn advises anyone wondering if they are suffering from the condition to \u201cdo an audit\u201d. Ask others around you whether you spend a lot of your day checking yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself if you are spending a lot of your money on skin products and a lot of your time on social media comparing yourself to flawless influencers. Think about how those things are impacting your life.<\/p>\n Those who suffer will often spend less time socialising, dismiss their hobbies, and decrease the amount they go outside. \u201cThere\u2019ll be a whole bunch of stuff they\u2019re avoiding,\u201d Chatburn says. \u201cSitting under bright lights, being too close to people; things that we call \u2018safety behaviours\u2019 because they make sufferers feel secure, but actually they can inadvertently keep the preoccupation going. <\/p>\n \u201cAlso look for signs of low mood, depression, hopelessness, and low self-esteem. I\u2019ve heard people say, \u2018My skin is bad, so I\u2019m bad.\u2019 So, it gets internalised in a really, really toxic way.\u201d <\/p>\n Excessive skincare purchasing is worse now than ever before. Nurse Liberos, a registered nurse prescriber and aesthetic practitioner based in London, says she\u2019s often \u201chorrified\u201d by patients who come to see her with 50 different highly chemical products in their bathroom. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll give them three that are less toxic and then also look at their overall wellbeing; mental health, internal health, gut health, blood tests, because that all links to your skin. <\/p>\n \u201cSkin is the largest organ of your body, so you\u2019ve got to look at everything \u2013 but there are practitioners out there who\u2019re just trying to sell products.\u201d <\/p>\n As well as selling products, there are a lot of people selling what looks like perfect skin. With 47.6 million videos (and counting) under the \u201cskincare\u201d hashtag on TikTok, it\u2019s no wonder that the latest research demonstrates that heavier use of the app coincides with higher skin dysmorphia tendencies. <\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t forget, children have access to TikTok, Instagram, Boots and Superdrug,\u201d Liberos reminds us of Gen Alpha\u2019s insatiable penchant for products<\/a>. \u201cThere are harmful, harsh ingredients in there that are dangerous to children; you can pick anything up and take it to the counter.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Maddie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-02-at-14-22-35.png\")
Maddie Ogle has shared her experience with skin dysmorphia on TikTok (TikTok\/@maddieogle10)<\/p>\n