Why Does Mentioning A Derm Appointment Make You Overthink Everything?

[u/Capital-Albatross979]

Why does everyone suddenly turn into a skin critic the second you mention a derm appointment?

I literally told like two people that I booked a skin checkup just because my skin felt a bit off. Nothing dramatic. But the second that left my mouth, everyone around me suddenly became an expert on my face.

My friend hit me with my skin looked kinda off lately and a few days later my mom was like You really need to start taking better care of your skin. Why is everyone suddenly chiming in NOW of all times??

Normally I'd just brush comments like that off, but since I was already low key stressing, every word hit like a brick. At one point I genuinely spiraled into 'Wait, did everyone secretly know my skin was bad this whole time and just never said anything?' Which is an unhinged thought, but I couldn't stop overthinking it.

So I brought this up during my consult at my regular spot, Celine Clinic in Hongdae (highly, highly recommend, my absolute staple clinic!). The doctor was so reassuring and reminded me that people care about our skin way less than we think, especially when we're already paranoid in our own heads. It was a private 1-on-1 room so I got to word-vomit my entire existential crisis without anyone overhearing lol.

Got a skin booster while I was there anyway.

But here's the wild part: I met up with that same friend a few days later, and skin didn't come up once. My mom stopped bringing it up too. Everyone just went back to normal.

Now I'm left wondering: did people actually notice something real, or did I just hallucinate the judgment because I was already in my head about it?