Anxiety and burn mark on face

Let me start off by saying that I have anxiety problems. I'm a girl going into second year of university. Therapists have already confirmed it for me. I've been on Prozac before for depression/anxiety issues. However, it usually not that bad and is manageable. I usually can put it at the back of my mind and just socialize and feel carefree.

Right now I am having much stronger anxiety issues than ever. About a week ago I used a facial cream on my face that ended up giving me irritation right next to my lip--a mark about the size of a dime. It calmed down but left a slight light brown mark in its wake. This has been all that has consumed my mind for the past week and I have a terrible feeling it could get worse. I know it sounds small and not like a big deal, but it's become an obsession to me. I went to my dermatologist yesterday and he said it was hyperpigmentation (where the skin produces too much melanin) from inflammation and will most likely fade away within 3 months.

I go through these mood swings of feeling good about the situation, where I know I just have to deal with it for the time-being until it fades away. And I feel optimistic. Then I have moods where I feel so absolutely down about it. I get anxious, thinking it will never fade away. I get anxious thinking everyone is just staring at it. I get anxious thinking I'll have to deal with covering it up with makeup now. I get anxious thinking it makes me ugly. I've talked to my parents about this since I'm home for summer, and they don't really understand - they just tell me I'm overreacting, it will fade away, etc. They've gotten annoyed basically with how obsessive I am about it.

It's only been there for a week. Imagining that I have to deal with it for months, if it does fade away by then, is almost excruciating. If I could see some progress in fading it would make me rest easier. I just don't understand why this had to happen to me (yes, I'm in the "why me?" mode). I constantly remind myself that it could be so much worse, that I can't stop living my life because of one imperfection. But it's driving me insane. Leaving the house lately takes so much effort, and I'm afraid to even step into the sun for fear of it darkening. Whenever I'm talking to or looking at other people, I think, "They're so lucky they don't have to deal with this like I do." It sounds ridiculous but this is my way of thinking. I know it's not healthy, especially because I'm going back to school in a month and I NEED to do well in school. I'm just so fearful of going back to school and everyone wondering what is on my face. I'm such an obsessive person, I need to stop this and live my life....but I feel so held back by my anxiety about this. If anyone could offer words of advice that'd be great.

I haven't had an experience like this. But I would guess that if it wasn't the mark, anxiety would be kicking your ass in some other way. It's mean like that.

Do you have other techniques for overcoming anxiety that you could apply directly to this aspect of it? I'm a chronic list-maker and journaller, so I'd be writing about "learning cover-up makeup is a useful life skill, it's good to be able to do it with a relatively light mark", "people might feel sorry for me and therefore be nicer to me than they would otherwise be", "coping with this is going to make me more resilient for future issues." It's very Pollyanna, but helps me. I don't do affirmations but if you're comfortable with them, they might work for you. Is there some other part of you that you'd like to improve that you could try to focus on instead? I don't mean for you to shift the anxiety to the size of your butt or something, but if you're doing 10 pushups every time you catch yourself looking at the mark in the mirror [for example], at the end of three months, the mark will be gone AND you'll have fabulous biceps. Sounds silly, probably is silly. But the mark is JUST your anxiety having a field-day, it's not making you a different person or changing your looks permanently.

I have constant psoriasis on my scalp which I can't shift (leading to tufted folliculitis) and I get flare-ups of eczema on my face. Aside from being sore it's not at all nice to look at, so I get very self-concious about it. I understand what you're going through, but as you've indicated from an expert it is only temporary. I'd certainly like mine to be the same way! I'd like to offer advice on the subject, but really, in very specific and real terms I suspect you won't feel better about the burn mark until it's gone away, unless make-up could work hiding it in the meantime. Taking your mind off it, in regards to the post above mine, is good advice and may stop you obsessing to a varying degree.

As you're probably fully aware, this temporary mark seems to be just a symptom and not the cause of your unhappy feelings, and whilst this will eventually go something else may replace it instead. Are you still seeing a therapist or not? I'd definitely suggest talking to somebody else if not, and trying to get to the core of the matter and continue dealing with that rather than isolated branching incidents. I wish you luck and hope the mark fades soon .

Edit: I see the original post is a couple of weeks old. Crossed fingers it's improving already, then!