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Blackpink_fan_4

Date posted: 5y

So I haven’t been diagnosed with OCD, (I’m a minor) but I have a feeling I might have it. I do have ADHD and have been medicated since 1st grade (I’m in 10th grade now). What can I do to help some of my urges? Here are my symptoms: -I pick at my skin. It’s pretty bad and it is getting out of hand. I started with the acne on my face, but that quickly spread to my chest, arms, legs, and now my stomach. I can’t wear a tank top outside and I take up a lot of my day picking. I have tried a lot of things like wearing clothes that cover up the affected areas and fidget toys, but I can’t stop. This is my worst symptom. -I can’t help but feel awful if my room is not organized or if items aren’t placed strategically, but when they aren’t I can’t find the energy to fix it. It never leaves my mind and gives me bad anxiety. -I always feel like I’m doing something wrong and tend to replay anything that happened when I talk or hang out with someone. This is especially bad after a day of school. I can’t help it, it like takes over my mind. -I kinda pull out my hair. It falls out naturally and nowadays I try to get as much of the hair out as possible. It’s kinda become a new obsession. It’s naturally wavy and I have a lot of it, so I never brushed it, but I am trying to start brushing it again but that just encourages it more. -my go to stress habit when I can’t pick at my skin is to run my nails through my eyebrows and get as much of the oils, skin, or eyebrow hairs out as possible without making them noticeable. -If anything is out of sort, like on a presentation if a picture and word bubble is not in perfect position to match everything else, I get really anxious. If I’m not walking in a certain way or my pants aren’t high-waisted, I get really anxious and will not be able to function. It’s more like if everything isn’t perfect then I get bad anxiety. If you have any suggestions for trying to help these habits, mostly the skin picking, please let me know ASAP.

ARTnotOCD

Date posted: 5y

First off, it sounds like you just nearly exactly described me. And while I still struggle with these issues, I have and you can learn strategies against them. Fidget toys are good, but for me it was discovering other activities like sewing that were positive, not just neutral, that had some of the similar sensations as picking were the most helpful. Also, if you catch yourself doing it unconsciously, forgive yourself and reset yourself right then to stop. (Harder than sounds, and it’s ok to forgive and reset repeatedly, and even after you were already aware of picking. The idea is to get the strength to stop even after you have started. This helps have more strength not to start as much.) I’m still figuring out methods for what to do if I can’t put something away “properly” rather than just leave it in a heap, so let’s share any new methods we come up with. Also, lots of ADD/ADHD meds have a side effect of making OCD worse. That doesn’t mean you should stop using them, but I would definitely discuss these urges with your doc and the possibility of it being OCD or even just OCD-like. (Sometimes the name doesn’t matter as long as you get help.). The ERP exercises on here are helpful. Again, I would suggest discussing them with your doc as well. If you’re having so much trouble not giving into compulsions, it may be harder to do ERP on your own. Glad you spoke out here; sending you healing luck!

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