u/Character-End9378

I have melasma both on my upper lip and forehead. The upper lip melasma causes me the most distress, especially as I've always had quite a hairy upper lip which I've been self conscious of.

Has anyone tried hydroquinone for their melasma moustache and seen any results? Good or bad - I want to get a rounded view.

I'm currently using a combined cream of Tretinoin 0.025% and Hydroquinone 6% - so far I've only noticed redness / lightening of skin around the melasma (which is making it appear even more noticeable).

Any advice or tips would be great!

My previous dermatologist told me he had never seen melasma on the upper lip of a woman before - I refuse to give him anymore of my money.

So I am after a new (preferably female) dermatologist who knows more about melasma in women.

Please help!

I had an open conversation recently about my mental health with my parents. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy conversation, because we are a family who rarely talk about emotion.

Long story short, I told them I had started taking medication for my anxiety/ mild depression. Overall, it didn't go well and they both seemed quite angry/upset that I would resort to medication to help.

Since this conversation my dad has actually been very supportive, asking questions, telling me he is here if I need to talk to anyone. He also told me that he had a conversation with my mom after I told them, in which my dad said to my mom something along to lines of, 'you must understand/relate, because you had depression X years ago' (after her mom had died and she had given birth to my sister). This is when my mom denied ever having it, and insisted quite aggressively that she was never depressed.

My dad is very confused by this because he's told me that he lived through it with her, he was there, he experienced her depression as a partner.

Is it possible for people who had depression to completely forget/dissociate from it?

I told my best friend a while ago about wanting to seek an ADHD diagnosis because I have always felt like there is something 'wrong' with me and I could resonate with A LOT of the inattentive symptoms.

Around a year later, me and the friend were catching up and for some reason ADHD/Autism was bought up in the conversation, she made it very clear that she finds it really frustrating how 'so many people online think they have ADHD these days' when in reality she 'has seen first hand how bad ADHD/Autism can be for some individuals, and these people online are buying into a trend' - I'm not sure if she forgot about our previous conversation about ME thinking I might have it, or whether this was an intentional conversation for her to let me know her (quite strong) opinions.

My therapist recently told me she suspects that I may have ADHD/ had it since a very young age. I never once bought up my suspicions on having it to my therapist, so this was the push I needed to seek a diagnosis.

Fast forward to today, I have the diagnosis, but i'm scared to tell my best friend, in fear of judgement/ awkwardness after her previous comments.

Do I tell her or keep it to yourself?

I told my best friend a while ago about wanting to seek an ADHD diagnosis because I have always felt like there is something 'wrong' with me and I could resonate with A LOT of the inattentive symptoms.

Around a year later, me and the friend were catching up and for some reason ADHD/Autism was bought up in the conversation, she made it very clear that she finds it really frustrating how 'so many people online think they have ADHD these days' when in reality she 'has seen first hand how bad ADHD/Autism can be for some individuals, and these people online are buying into a trend' - I'm not sure if she forgot about our previous conversation about ME thinking I might have it, or whether this was an intentional conversation for her to let me know her (quite strong) opinions.

My therapist recently told me she suspects that I may have ADHD/ had it since a very young age. I never once bought up my suspicions on having it to my therapist, so this was the push I needed to seek a diagnosis.

Fast forward to today, I have the diagnosis, but i'm scared to tell my best friend, in fear of judgement/ awkwardness after her previous comments.

Do I tell her or keep it to yourself?

I told my best friend a while ago about wanting to seek an ADHD diagnosis because I have always felt like there is something 'wrong' with me and I could resonate with A LOT of the inattentive symptoms.

Around a year later, me and the friend were catching up and for some reason ADHD/Autism was bought up in the conversation, she made it very clear that she finds it really frustrating how 'so many people online think they have ADHD these days' when in reality she 'has seen first hand how bad ADHD/Autism can be for some individuals, and these people online are buying into a trend' - I'm not sure if she forgot about our previous conversation about ME thinking I might have it, or whether this was an intentional conversation for her to let me know her (quite strong) opinions.

My therapist recently told me she suspects that I may have ADHD/ had it since a very young age. I never once bought up my suspicions on having it to my therapist, so this was the push I needed to seek a diagnosis.

Fast forward to today, I have the diagnosis, but i'm scared to tell my best friend, in fear of judgement/ awkwardness after her previous comments.

Do I tell her or keep it to yourself?

I 28/F am having troubles opening up to my 56/F mom. I am a very emotional person, I feel things and like to share. Whenever I try to open up to my mom she always seems to get angry/upset with me, diminish my problem or make out that she has is worse. Some examples..

I once told her about my eating disorder when I was younger, and how I still have body insecurities now as an adult. She got really angry and upset and started crying. Saying how dare I complain about my body when my cousin is in a wheelchair. How do I think she feels (my mom) when she has to walk around in a bikini on holiday when her daughters have better bodies than she does.

Another time, I told her that one of my close friends was leaving the country and I was really sad about it, because it's hard to find friends at this age. She sarcastically said back 'oww you don't have any friends' - to which I frankly answered back 'no, not really'. Her response was to 'well why don't you get pregnant, you can make friends easier as a mom'. I told her I didn't want to have a baby just yet and she proceeded to roll her eyes and say she was 'only joking'. That was the end of the conversation.

There are quite a few other examples, but the most recent one was me telling her I had started taking an antidepressant. This was the same day that I told her I was considering moving abroad for a few years, I had recently come back from and trip and loved it so much. Again, she got angry and said 'you probably only enjoyed your trip because you were high off anti-depressants'.

Meanwhile, whenever she is drunk she will off-load onto me about everything that is wrong in her life, my dad, her happiness, etc. And I am always there for her with no judgement. The next day she acts like nothing had happened.

I honestly feel a bit lost, because I want to have a relationship with my mum where I share intimate emotions with her, but I'm not sure if it's possible. Has anyone else been in this situation with a parent and got through to them?

Would love any advice!

So in one of my sessions I was talking to my female therapist about my anxieties around people judging me, about the way I look, act, sound etc. I worry a lot that people are watching me and critiquing in social situations.

Long story short she said it might be because of how my parents constantly criticise strangers/ other people, fat shaming, homophobic comments, etc. Even if it was never directed at me, this could have an impact of how you think others might perceive you.

I agreed with this and it did sound plausible (along with other societal pressures, etc). She then asked if I, myself judge other people. I was honest and said yes I guess I do sometimes, but it makes me feel icky and I instantly tell myself that it is wrong.

She THEN proceeded to ask me what my initial thoughts were about her and did I judge her appearance in anyway and if yes, what did I judge about her.

This made me feel REALLY uncomfortable, especially as a conflict avoiding, people pleasing. I felt so uneasy.

Am I overreacting or is this unprofessional??

So in one of my sessions I was talking to my female therapist about my anxieties around people judging me, about the way I look, act, sound etc. I worry a lot that people are watching me and critiquing in social situations.

Long story short she said it might be because of how my parents constantly criticise strangers/ other people, fat shaming, homophobic comments, etc. Even if it was never directed at me, this could have an impact of how you think others might perceive you.

I agreed with this and it did sound plausible (along with other societal pressures, etc). She then asked if I, myself judge other people. I was honest and said yes I guess I do sometimes, but it makes me feel icky and I instantly tell myself that it is wrong.

She THEN proceeded to ask me what my initial thoughts were about her and did I judge her appearance in anyway and if yes, what did I judge about her.

This made me feel REALLY uncomfortable, especially as a conflict avoiding, people pleasing. I felt so uneasy.

Am I overreacting or is this unprofessional??

I have a combination of fine blonde hairs and some pesky dark thick hairs which pop up weekly. I have previously waxed (twice a year) and plucked pretty much every single day, but want to find a more 'melasma friendly' solution. Any recommendations would be amazing!!

Hi everyone, I've been dealing with (what I thought to be) Melasma on my forehead and upper lip for 3/4 years now. I've tried all sorts of creams/serums but with no luck. I recently went to a dermatologist in the UK who told me that the darker marks on my upper lip were unlikely to be Melasma, as he has never seen it there on a woman before. He seemed quite intrigued/ baffled at the pigmentation on my upper-lip?! This confused me as I've seen so many other women talk about their 'Melasma Moustache'.

He then went onto say it is more likely to be 'Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation' - from plucking hairs from my upper lip. I am a hairy upper lip/chin girlie, I have waxed and plucked my darker hairs for as long as I can remember. However, the darker pigmentation above my upper lip appeared on a few years ago.

Is he right in thinking that my 'Melasma Moustache' isn't Melasma after all?

He ended up prescribing me with 20% Azelaic Acid to put on every morning and 0.1 % Differin to put on before bed every night, mainly for my forehead but said it may not work as well on my upper lip.

I'm a little confused and would love some advice/ see if anyone else had had a similar experience?

Thank you!

I'm going to keep this fairly vague, but a friend (friend number 1) sent another friend (friend number 2) a message on facebook messenger. I questioned friend number 2 on whether they had seen the message - friend number 2 told me that they had never received the message in question, and proceeded to sent screenshots of various messaging platforms.

They have had previous conversations with friend 1 before via facebook messenger, so they have definitely been able to receive messages from them before.

I have seen the message on friend 1's phone with my own eyes, so I definitely know it was sent. Is it possible for facebook messages to just vanish and never be received at all? Or is friend 2 lying and pretending they didn't get the message.

For some context, friend 2 has openly discussed with me before that they think friend 1 has a problem with them/doesn't like them. Sorry if this is confusing and might seem quite minor without the FULL context!! But if friend 2 is lying to me about not receiving the message it is a pretty big red flag. Would love some insight into the world of facebook messages?! Can facebook glitch and a message could just disappear??