- Username
- feralcaroll
- Date posted
- 5y ago
i’ve struggles with dermatillomania (skin picking disorder) for years now, i get the same urges and it does help me stop cutting but at the cost of scars and infected wounds :/
@ruby.j do you ever try to manage the skin picking with other means of curbing the urge? I want to find a nondestructive release
@feralcaroll i’ve tried many things to do that give a similar feel, such as painting on my skin and peeling it off, peeling off glue from my skin, and other things like that. i’ve also tried fidget toys. they have all somewhat helped, but the urge specifically for skin picking is always there, and unfortunately i have never been able to completely stop, just minimize how much i do it.
I have a similar disorder (trichotillomania) and I’ve found that the most helpful thing is to try to maintain full consciousness if I have the urge. make sure I recognize why I feel like I have to pull a hair out and sometimes wait a couple seconds to resist. Keep practicing that and make the waiting period for picking longer and longer and then try to not pick it at all. Also for some reason, N-acetyl cystine helps!!
Wow, that’s a good question? Well, first of all; Yes, I’m expiring the same. Actually exactly the same. I think that for me it all started as dermatillomania and then evolved to cutting.. every time I’m exhausted, anxious, sad, numb and so on the urge rises.. But with my therapist I’ve been experiencing with different methods: - Holding a icecube - That didn’t work for me. - Squeezing a rough rock - Sometimes that helps! - NADA or acupuncture - That one does the trick! Basically (for me!!) I need to stimulate my senses - Anything I can feel/put on my skin... And my therapist tells me that breaking point is to NOT penetrate the skin. That is the point of no return?
"Excoriation disorder is an obsessive-compulsive spectrum mental disorder that is characterized by the repeated urge or impulse to pick at one's own skin to the extent that either psychological or physical damage is caused." This quote is not my words but it explains my OCD best . Anyone else who is diagnosed with this? And how do you deal with it? Currently I am obsessed with picking my scalp and I can't stop. If I don't do it, I keep thinking about it. A few years back I was so obsessed and driven, I cut off some of my beauty spots with scissors. I pull the skin off my nails and it bleeds. I can't control this. I am in the beginning of therapy but don't have a lot of sessions because my psychologist is very good but very busy. How do I deal with this for now, I can't stop.
I deal with excoriation disorder/dermatillomania where I constantly feel the need to pick at my skin/squeeze/get out any content beneath the surface of my face via bumps/pores. I've actually never really had much acne, but due to the damage I've done to my own skin, it almost looks like I have acne scars. I mostly do it in the morning and at night when I'm in the bathroom/ in front of a mirror and although I'm aware it's harmful and can see the repercussions and red splotchy cuts on my face after, I'm having a hard time controlling it. Does anyone face a similar experience with excoriation disorder? If so, any tips or strategies I should try?
I have been skin picking since I was 5 yrs old, and I am currently 22. The only explaination my therapist and I have for it is either an intense autism stim, or OCD. My hands were an absolute warzone during the pandemic, and at my old job, it was causing me so much distress, I'd walk out at the end of the night covered in bandaids on my hands. It's always made me look "crazy" and unsocailized. My therapist isn't trained to deal with OCD so that's why I'm here. They gave me a pop-it bracelet and that's helped a lot, but it's still very isolating. All my friends pick at their acne or fingers, but I haven't met anyone who has used their hands as chew toys, to be blunt :/ I just want to feel normal.
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