Banana413
- Date posted
- 48w
Skin picking
I’m not sure how to stop picking at my skin. It makes me sad to always see scabs all over my face, it ruins all my pictures. Any tips?
DD115DD115
- Date posted
- 47w
Record how you feel before you pick. Record how you feel during picking. Record how you feel after picking. The after was always tragic for me.. eventually you can recognize the before feelings quicker and will want to prevent yourself from getting to the after feelings. Every single time you fight through the urge and don’t pick, you weaken it. Imagine each time you fight through the “urge hump” becomes less and less steep. I worked with a behavioral therapist for years with this and the imagery of that hump flattening still stays with me. Hope this helps and you will be always be okay
Banana413Banana413
- Date posted
- 46w
@DD115 Thank you so much for sharing your experience and advice with me. 💗
lizzibabelizzibabe
- Date posted
- 48w
Two things have really helped me in my skin picking journey! One would be, keep your hands busy! I highly recommend something like slime or even a picky pad! Two, funny enough is fake nails. I understand not everyone would want nails on, but they are perfectly rounded and unable to pierce skin. Once it heals it will get easier as there will be less scabs. This is what has worked for me, hope it helps!
Banana413Banana413
- Date posted
- 48w
@lizzibabe Thank you! I appreciate it💗
catladymeow111catladymeow111
- Date posted
- 48w
Hey! I used to struggle with this really bad, but I’ve made significant progress. What are your triggers? And when do you usually pick? (For example, only in front of mirrors? Only at night? etc)
Banana413Banana413
- Date posted
- 48w
@catladymeow111 I definitely do it more in front of a mirror, but I feel like I do it all day long no matter what. What hailed helped
catladymeow111catladymeow111
- Date posted
- 48w
@Banana413 A few things have helped me, so i’m going to list them all, sorry for the long message! : 1. A face washing routine. This is so hard to keep consistent, but romanticizing taking care of yourself and washing your face is a great way to practice self care and become a “caregiver” of your face rather than try to hurt it. You want to love your face, not harm it. Rewiring your brain to touch your face with only gentle love is a great place to start. 2. Making yourself extremely aware when you’re about to start picking / before you even start. For me, I would pick and daydream, so I wouldn’t even realize I was doing it. I would think about what is stressing me out or just think about anything at all. Now, I make myself very aware before I do it, and I repeat to myself “look don’t touch” in front of a mirror, because I know if I touch, it will have consequences (scabs, lowering my self esteem, causing more acne, etc). 3. Repetitive positive thoughts. Think about how relieving it will be to reduce this habit. “If I don’t pick, I will feel so good about myself.” “I love my face, so I won’t pick it.” You can even say “I don’t pick my face anymore” and stop immediately. Whatever will work for you. 4. Journaling. Write down all the reasons why you want to stop picking, how it will make you feel better about yourself, how you strive to have selfies without worrying about scabs. Write down your goals. This is so hard. I still pick to this day, but my face picking is very, very minimal because I repeat to myself “look don’t touch. I don’t want to hurt my face.” Maybe your positive thoughts will look different than mine, but practicing resisting the urge with repetitive thoughts and discipline will go a long way. You don’t have to deal with the consequences of picking your face, you can prevent them, and I think that’s a great thing to look forward to as your journey begins. You will see progress, and you will feel proud of yourself! And of course, bad days happen. Those are a part of progress, and you are not alone
tryingmybest11tryingmybest11
- Date posted
- 26w
@catladymeow111 my main issue currently is dermatillomania and picking my face so I’m looking through this app for help, and this comment is so so good! Thank you!
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- Date posted
- 24w
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I think I might have dermatillomania. I am not self diagnosing. I get skin picking so bad that my whole back is covered in sores, there's at least 40 of them. I also pick at my head horribly I seriously cannot stop either. I have open sores all over my head and pick and pick and just can never stop. Sometimes I don't notice, and I'm always looking for a spot to pick at. I looked at all the symptoms and ik it runs with ocd. Whenever I get anxious my skin picking becomes very severe. Whenever I wake up I pick at my head too. I seriously don't know how to stop picking and I'm trying to get a diagnostic for dermillomania. I also have started to pick at my nose horribly. I have these blackhesd removers and I keep using them constantly on my face, everytime I'm home from school I use them on my nose and pick at everything on my face.
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