Would this be self-harm?

[Ocelot]

so i get acne, and it's not too bad, but i definitely don't have anything near clear skin. anyway, whenever i get a pimple, i feel compelled to scratch it open or i just pop it before it should be popped, either way creating a scab. I then become addicted to scratching/picking all of the scabs off, until they come back, and then i just do it over and over. This surprisingly rarely leaves scars on my face, but on my shoulders there are a lot of small whitish round scars from picking scabs over and over.

I absolutely hate having scabs all over my face, but I feel so addicted for some reason. Last night was thinking about why I would do something to myself that caused me pain and I didn't like the look of, and to me that sounded a lot like self-harm.

I do cut on occasion, so I definitely know how I feel when I want to self-harm, but I was wondering if maybe picking scabs is a sort of subconscious self-harm technique? Is something like this possible, even when I'm feeling in a very god mood? I never really felt "addicted" to picking scabs before I stated getting acne, so it started after puberty, if that makes any difference. I honestly don't really know what to think. Sorry this was so long, thanks for the help!

[Captain Canada]

Well... Technically it is self harm because your purposely harming yourself and it has become an addiction even though its minor. Try using acne creams/face wash to clear your acne instead of scratching them off. Its much easier and healthier for you.

[Ocelot]

Well... Technically it is self harm because your purposely harming yourself and it has become an addiction even though its minor. Try using acne creams/face wash to clear your acne instead of scratching them off. Its much easier and healthier for you.

Haha believe me I know, I'm trying :P

[Captain Canada]

Haha believe me I know, I'm trying :P

Trying is always good! Seeing yourself make it happen is the best :D

[ksdnfkfr]

Check this out: Skin Picking Disorder
(http://www.trich.org/about/skin-picking.html)

[Ocelot]

Check this out: Skin Picking Disorder
(http://www.trich.org/about/skin-picking.html)

hmm, interesting. thank you for that

[PinkFloyd]

SPeaking in ONLY technical terms, that is self harm, but not the kind that is actually really bad like cutting. I used to do the same thing when I had acne. It's a habit that you'll need to get out of because scarring will happen.

[Blood]

Compulsive skin picking, also known as dermatillomania. I suffered with this for about a year and it was irritating as heck. It's basically one of those habits you really just have to work on stopping. Covering up and/or taking down mirrors helped me a lot. If you can't see the pimples you'll be less likely to pick at them.

[Desuetude]

I wouldn't count it as self harm. I bite my nails to the point of having half the nail ripped off and the skin around it to be bleeding pretty badly but that's not self harm either because I'm not doing it for the same reason as I cut for. I see your skin picking to be more or less the same thing, just with a different cause. It's more of an addictive habit that needs to be broken which is extrememly hard in itself. Hopefully when you grow out of your acne you'll stop picking at your skin and you're likely to grow out of it because it's considered a 'teen problem'. In the meantime how about you search up moisturisers or things that could prevent/lessen the problem?

[Miri]

I see it more as an addictive habit as well. I used to bite my nails and when I got nervous I would pretty much shred my cuticles, but then someone commented and I got so embarrassed that I forced myself to stop, and while occasionally I will subconsciously shred my nails, I've been really good about it for months, and I'm really happy.

What I did is that in order to keep my gross cuticles from breaking and ripping when they got dry, I started moisturizing them everyday, and still do it daily. I used to pick at my face a lot more, and even though it wasn't like you were describing, I starting putting lotion on my face to make the small scabs nice and soft, so that when I touched my skin it felt much more even, and my skin is so much nicer now, I'm so happy I started doing that.

[RavleIncarnate]

If you want to get rid of acne, however, try benzoyl peroxide and use only non-comedogenic moisturiser. If you wanna know more, go to wikihow and search: how to get rid of acne in a day. I'm gonna try it too.