[Zebra821]

Anyone else get this from their relatives/friends constantly?

Like they think they're just going to cure you by telling you to stop?

How freaking ANNOYING is that??

[kaliope]

yes that is annoying. it is difficult when your relatives do not understand what you are going through because then you lack a much needed support system. take care.

[DePressMe]

...yep, its embarrassing when somebody catches me picking or comments on my sores. My mom does not comment on it too much and she tries to say it in a nice way and I know its because she cares....but, its still hard to hear. Sometimes I think, if she saw the sores that I keep hidden she'd really freak out. I'm just starting to heal from a bad picking spell that started months ago. If I can make it for a few more days I'll be over the hump...

[HowDoYouFeelMeow?]

Today I am going to see T without makeup on. I am scared, but I want to show her what I really look like with the picking. A bloody, scabby, ugly face and chest. I'm afraid she'll think I'm dirty and ugly (even if just subconsciously), and that she'll not give me a hug today. I am actually very clean. Part of the picking is the OCD trying to remove the dirty spots. I know it makes things worse. People don't understand that we KNOW how illogical our actions are.

[BipolarWarrior92]

It's odd to see this posted in an OCD forum, as I never suspected that this could be a substantial reason for picking one's skin. My aunt has been doing this for months, and I could never figure out why she does it. She picks until she bleeds, and she has scabs all over her face and now she's moving on to her arms. We keep asking her to stop, but she doesn't. I never thought of looking at it in a way that she is picking at the dirty spots.

She also suffers from dementia and Wernicke's Syndrome, along with Bipolar disorder. Maybe she has OCD also? We've taken her to doctors who tell us that there is nothing wrong with her, and we've had her skin checked out. No matter how much we tell her to wash her face, she still picks. I'll have to have her checked out for that. Thanks so much for the input everyone!

[BipolarWarrior92]

Do any of you have any tips on how to curb this behavior? Is it simply a habit that cannot be broken without a sort of medication or is it a habit that truly can be curbed?

[purplepearl]

Originally Posted by Zebra821

Anyone else get this from their relatives/friends constantly?

Like they think they're just going to cure you by telling you to stop?

How freaking ANNOYING is that??

Extremely annoying. I don't have OCD (that I know of) but I have a lot of 'habits' - nail biting, picking at the sore on my wrist where my cheap jewelry has irritated, twirling my hair. I get super annoyed when people, especially family, tell me to stop biting my nails. I've tried. I even got into painting my nails to make them look pretty so I wouldn't want to bite them. It does not help. It's not that I want my fingers to bleed or my nail beds be wrecked, but I just. can't. stop.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Originally Posted by BipolarWarrior92

Do any of you have any tips on how to curb this behavior? Is it simply a habit that cannot be broken without a sort of medication or is it a habit that truly can be curbed?

The only two things that worked for me were therapy to learn how to notice when I felt the urge to pick and to figure out other things to do instead and getting on an anti-anxiety med. For me, it wasn't a habit, it was/is a compulsion. There's a part of me that absolutely needs to pick at my skin...it's a pressing, overwhelming need. Someone telling me to stop does nothing for me except upset me. If I could stop that easily, I would have done so years ago. It took a lot of work getting my anxiety under control to see even a small drop in the skin picking behaviors. It took going on medication for anxiety to really make a huge impact.

[dinolover]

Originally Posted by BipolarWarrior92

Do any of you have any tips on how to curb this behavior? Is it simply a habit that cannot be broken without a sort of medication or is it a habit that truly can be curbed?

I heard that staying away from triggers that make you pick your skin(looking in the mirror, touching your skin) or doing something else when you feel like doing this helps. Staying concious of what you're doing is also helpful since picking skin is involuntary sometimes.

[CuttlefishCuller]

I roll my eyes, like thank you, you've solved all my problems. I can stop picking now that you've told me it's bad and to stop, I had no idea. /s

[Breezyboo]

Originally Posted by BipolarWarrior92

Do any of you have any tips on how to curb this behavior? Is it simply a habit that cannot be broken without a sort of medication or is it a habit that truly can be curbed?

I have found a guy on you tube that has a channel and every video is of him using a tool to properly take care of pimples and blackheads. I honestly a bunch of videos of pimple popping. Anyway I have realized that if I'm stressed, instead of picking my skin I watch one or more of his videos and it makes the urges easier to control for the time being.

[Little Jay]

I thought it was just me that did this! I'm always so embarrassed by it and I know I'm making it worse but I just keep doing it. The thought that there is any dirt in my skin makes my skin crawl so it's like I just have to get it all out. My family have been telling me to stop since I was a young teen - now i'm a grown up I have noone telling me to stop which maybe I need sometimes!