How skin tone affects mental health

by Susindhraseghar 4 October, 2022

Skin whitening creams are broadly used to achieve lighter skin

Dark skinned individuals have frequently expressed and projected emotions and situations of helplessness while encountering circumstances of social, economic, and interpersonal prospects based on their skin tone.

How does it feel whenever a family member or a friend calls you names or bullies you just because of your skin colour? It is definitely not a nice thing to do but people still do it without knowing the impact that can be caused on someone.

Janice Nathan, a 25-year-old Psychology student still recalls every single statement that has been made about her skin colour by her family and friends.

“You have amazing facial features, you would look prettier if you were a little lighter,” said one of Janice’s friends when she was a teenager.

Discrimination and unfair treatment begin in the modern world the moment a kid is born. Relatives begin contrasting their skin tones with those of other family members. Then, in school, they are given nicknames that refer to dark or black objects and characters.

Janice grew up in an Anglo-Indian family and almost everyone in her family is light skinned. Whenever she visited the church with her family, her relatives or other church members would ask Janice’s parents why she is darker than the rest of the family.

When Janice was a child, her grandmother would always use a paste made out of turmeric powder, milk and yoghurt to scrub her entire body to make her lighter just because she looked ‘dirty’ and was darker than the other family members.

“The sad part is that this turmeric paste recipe still stands strong today as I have a 3-year-old nephew who is as dark as me and some of my family members are trying to make him lighter too,” said Janice.

Back in school, her friends used to call her names like “karrupi” which means black in Tamil and they would even suggest she use bleaching soap to obtain a fairer complexion.

Even when Janice started exploring the dating world in her early teens, she was rejected by a couple of guys just because of her skin colour. Given all of her experiences she faced because of her skin tone, it did take a toll on her mental health.

Some research has found that colourism impacts mental health

Even within the same ethnic group, darker skin is linked to higher rates of mental health issues and more exposure to perceived prejudice, which is a major risk factor for behaviour issues, depressed and anxious symptoms, and mental illnesses (Louie, 2019).

Colorism has an impact on how people view and feel about themselves, how they treat themselves, and how they behave in real life.

“In my early 20’s , every time I heard a comment about my skin tone, it only brought me lower which led to my development in body dysmorphic disorder. It is a condition when an individual is constantly obsessed over the flaws of their body,” said Janice.

Janice always felt anxious to even make new friends when she first enrolled in college as she thought that people would perceive her differently solely because of her skin colour. When people in college approach her, she tends to feel insecure.

“Every time I try, it only reminds me of what my relatives and friends told me when I was younger,” Janice said. “When buying new clothes, I would usually think twice before buying bright colours as I always thought that it would not suit my skin tone.”

Thankfully for Janice, she overcame her body dysmorphic disorder two years ago. “I started to avoid thinking about my skin colour as I know it does not define who I am and since then I have been socialising with people with no issues and also started wearing whatever colour I want,” she said.

It was definitely not an easy journey for Janice as she still receives comments about how dark her skin is till today but she makes sure it does not affect her well-being.