Compulsive Skin Picking

[krystalm]

does anyone else suffer from this? it's absolutely disgusting but i love picking at my skin and scalp, and my wrists are absolutely disgusting looking because of all the scars. but i can't help it at all. i've been doing this since i can remember and i can't even control it. i go into weird trances and i can do it for hours without even realizing it. i've never been actually diagnosed with it, but i meet the criteria, and it goes along with other things i deal with. it feels good when i do it, and just like releases stress. i can't explain it. i do it when i have nothing better to do, or my hands aren't moving, ughh anyone relate?

[ShatteredWings]

haha yessss i do this all the time...and i don't use bandages either so its really easy to....idk yea it's gross, specially when you start bleeding(??!??), but its fun


*yes i am nuts*

[Ryandel]

Ya I did before. It god bad though, that I had to wrap gauze around my arm to stop some of the bleeding and prevent infections.

[byee]

Golly, you guys need to find a constructive hobby or something!

First, for something to be a 'complusion', it has to be some behavior you have no control over. It is almost automatic, there's a driven quality to it. And, the person cannot comsciosuly stop doing it, they cannot control it, it controls them.

What you all have are very bad habits, you've gotten used to doing something for whatever reason, and you continue to do it. It seems 'automatic', but that's b/c you just do it without thinking.

But you CAN stop it, perhaps by thinking about it and being more aware of it. habits, no matter how long you've had them or how strong they are, can be controlled. You just have to be aware of them, and then exercise a bit of self restraint.

[Ryandel]

Golly, you guys need to find a constructive hobby or something!

First, for something to be a 'complusion', it has to be some behavior you have no control over. It is almost automatic, there's a driven quality to it. And, the person cannot comsciosuly stop doing it, they cannot control it, it controls them.

What you all have are very bad habits, you've gotten used to doing something for whatever reason, and you continue to do it. It seems 'automatic', but that's b/c you just do it without thinking.

But you CAN stop it, perhaps by thinking about it and being more aware of it. habits, no matter how long you've had them or how strong they are, can be controlled. You just have to be aware of them, and then exercise a bit of self restraint.


Notice how I said in mine long ago. My new constructive hobby is photography and baking bagels

[krystalm]

Golly, you guys need to find a constructive hobby or something!

First, for something to be a 'complusion', it has to be some behavior you have no control over. It is almost automatic, there's a driven quality to it. And, the person cannot comsciosuly stop doing it, they cannot control it, it controls them.

What you all have are very bad habits, you've gotten used to doing something for whatever reason, and you continue to do it. It seems 'automatic', but that's b/c you just do it without thinking.

But you CAN stop it, perhaps by thinking about it and being more aware of it. habits, no matter how long you've had them or how strong they are, can be controlled. You just have to be aware of them, and then exercise a bit of self restraint.

It is a compulsion. I have to do it, or i do it without realizing it, and when i realize it and want to stop i can't. and when i don't do it i freak out and basically have a panic attack. it's a little more then a mere "hobby", i failed a final because i spent the whole time picking at my arm.

http://www.ocdla.com/compulsiveskinpicking.html

[byee]

As I recall, you have alot of things going on for you, so maybe the picking is just a symptom of that other stuff. If you want to see it as a 'complusion', OK. But whatever you call it, it sounds like it's another thing in your life that's overwhelming you. Are you in therapy?

[krystalm]

it is a compulsion derived from my anxiety, but since it is usually common with ocd sufferers that's why i posted to see if anyone else dealt with it to. yeah, i just recently got back in it after i was medicated and could finally open up about it, which is why i started posting here because i've dealt with everything for so long which "created" all these after effects of abuse (says a former therapist?) and just need to get it all out, because it feels good to not keep everything in anymore and my current therapist said it would be good for me to talk to people who go through the same thing, and when i was too young for the ptsd forum, i happily found this.

[byee]

FWIW, I agree with both your former and current therapists, and mine's free!

Good for you for being in therapy, you can begin to understand all this stuff and the way you react to it, and hopefully, find better ways of dealing with it!

[foof1]

That doesn't really sound like ocd. Do you feel that you have to do it or something bad will happen.

[Rutherford The Brave]

Dont bump old threads just a warning close please?

[Sapphire]

I do this too.

Compulsive skin picking is also known as dermatillomania. It is a legitimate disorder and deemed to be on the Obsessive Complusive Disorder spectrum.

I've got a thread on this in the Cutting and Self Harm forum Compulsive Skin Picking (aka dermatillomania) (http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27585)