I really need to tweeze my eyebrows but everytime i even look at them i get so triggered and spend hours in the bathroom (causing me to avoid looking at them). however today i physically felt the hair in between them and i feel the hairs are sticking out, but if i pluck them, i know it’ll turn into a compulsion. how do i get around this? I need to remove the hairs sometimes for real, but it’s so triggering???
I think the best thing to do is to try and distract yourself with something even more pleasant. When you want to pick, treat yourself to a snack or an episode you’ve been meaning to watch, or even just scrolling through social media for a few minutes. It sounds like you’re struggling with trichotillimania. I used to struggle quite a bit with dermatillomania and it’s not gone, but positive distraction really helped reduce it
@ZeeIsNotOkay Best of luck 🩷
@ZeeIsNotOkay thank you, how do i know if i have trichotillimania? how should i go about removing hairs that actually need to be removed if it’s very triggering to see and pluck my eyebrows?
@anonymousyyvvyhvbb You don’t need to remove any hairs! Embrace your natural eyebrows until you are able to pluck them safely. I would speak to a doctor or therapist about figuring out if you have trichotillomania specifically, or if this is an aspect of ocd. Because the two are related disorders, it can be hard to know the difference. But they are both treated with ERP! Your compulsion is to pluck your hair - the exposure would be to start by not plucking when you get the urge, and eventually build up to looking yourself in the mirror and resisting the urge. This is all an example, but you could figure this out with your therapist. Best of luck 🩷
@ZeeIsNotOkay But when i feel the in between of my eyebrows i feel a lot of hairs and some which are sticking out. i know they need to be removed but i’m afraid to bc dping my eyebrows is a big trigger for me with ocd. when i need to pluck my eyebrows truly, should i do it myself? or should i purposely not do it because it will trigger me
You could get your eyebrows waxed by a professional. But that is spending money and you also have to accept someone else doing it. Which could be good self ERP.
i'm really sorry you're going through this, it sounds super tough to have something as simple as tweezing become so stressful. 😞 it's a hard balance to strike between taking care of yourself and not letting the ocd take over. by the way, have you heard about this new AI-powered OCD therapy tool called 'unstuck?' i've been in your shoes before, and what really helped me was this free AI OCD therapy tool called "unstuck" (unstuckmyocd.com/try) that my NOCD therapist recommended to me. i think it'll be especially helpful for you because it offers personalized step-by-step support when OCD makes everyday tasks difficult, just like an OCD therapist. it can help you navigate the fine line between self-care and compulsion, which sounds exactly like what you need right now. i hate when people promote stuff, but i really think it can help you because it's changed my life. lmk if you have Qs or just want to talk more! <3
Does anyone ever feel like they force themselves to endure their triggers? Like you can’t physically stop yourself from doing something or seeing something that you know will trigger you and you know it won’t help or give you any joy but you literally can’t physically stop?
does anyone else feel like their compulsion is also their intrusive thought? like my brain says "if you do *intrusive thought*, you wont deal with said intrusive thought again." i really need help because it deals with harm ocd and i really dont want to do anything bad. im so scared. i know it's lying, but it doesnt feel like it and i just feel so stressed and anxious.
I don't know why maybe it's the OCD in me but I just can't comprehend why I'm currently so stressed about my relationship and questioning my feelings towards my boyfriend because I thought about changing the color of my hair or the way I present myself physically??? My brain immediately associates "change" with "this means I'm probably unhappy with my relationship and that I want it to change too" why??? I don't want to have these thoughts and I don't want to associate every little desire I have to change my routine or my appearance with breaking up with my boyfriend. Anyone can relate to these triggers too?
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