[Karkki]

I've had a problem with skin picking for several years now, but I've just thought about it as a bad habit until I recently found out it's actually a psychiatric condition. The picking hasn't only left me with damaged skin, it's also led to neck pain and head aches, because of bending over for long periods of time. I recently had a doctor asking me about my rash (went to see the doctor for something completely different), and in my embarrasment I just said it was due to allergies.

I find it so hard to quit doing this, since my "normal distraction methods" don't work. I'm able to pick my skin even if I watch TV, and I'm able to scratch my skin while I read. It's also very time consuming and disturbs my sleep, since I nearly every night get caught up in picking and lose track of time, so when I finally get to bed, I can't get enough sleep before I have to get up and go to work. It also makes it hard to wear some of the clothes I would like to wear, especially now in the summer, since I want to cover up all the red marks on my skin.

I'm in therapy for eating disorders, depression, and panic disorder, but I've never told my therapist about this behaviour, since I'm quite ashamed of it, and I had no idea it was classified as a psychiatric disorder.

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep myself from constantly picking my skin? It's really affected my everday life for the past couple of years, and I can't seem to stop.

[CANDC]

For me I use this exercise for first aid.
Here is what I use when my head gets over crammed with thoughts. Breathe in a natural way. Silently count one on the inhale and 2 on the exhale. 3 on the inhale and 4 on the exhale. Continue up to 10 then go back to 1. This helps me focus on breathing rather than the wall of thoughts.

Psych Central has forums
OCD and Trichotillomania - Forums at Psych Central

Also other resources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excoriation_disorder

[Angelique67]

Have you tried wearing gloves? I've done similar things when my hair pulling was bad. I used to wear a hat around the house to keep me from pulling it out. Sounds like gloves may help you. Good luck.

[AND123]

I've been suffering from this for about 5 years now, and I too just found out it was an actual psychological disorder. I have to say, it's nice knowing I'm not the only one going through this. I've tried just about everything at this point; telling myself I'm going to quit, fake nails, no nails. Gloves, long sleeves, therapy.. Everything. The only thing that seemed to work the best was clipping my nails very short, but being a woman who values her appearance, that's pretty much a no go. What all have you tried ?

[Karkki]

I haven't really tried anything special, mostly just deciding I'm going to quit NOW and then end up picking my skin in about 10 minutes. I study nursing and work in the medical field so I'm not allowed to have long nails or wear nailpolish, but having newly polished nails helps for a bit (I'm really obsessed with not ruining my nailpolish right after I've put it on). Short nails doesn't really help me, since my nails are kind of wierd and I can't cut them as short as other people.

Keeping my hands busy helps a bit, I've thought about trying knitting or something. I sometimes braid my hair in different ways to keep my hands from picking, but there's the risk that I'll end up scratching my scalp.

I'll neet to try the gloves! And breathing exercises when I feel the urge also sounds like a good idea.

[Mygrandjourney]

Originally Posted by Karkki

I haven't really tried anything special, mostly just deciding I'm going to quit NOW and then end up picking my skin in about 10 minutes. I study nursing and work in the medical field so I'm not allowed to have long nails or wear nailpolish, but having newly polished nails helps for a bit (I'm really obsessed with not ruining my nailpolish right after I've put it on). Short nails doesn't really help me, since my nails are kind of wierd and I can't cut them as short as other people.

Keeping my hands busy helps a bit, I've thought about trying knitting or something. I sometimes braid my hair in different ways to keep my hands from picking, but there's the risk that I'll end up scratching my scalp.

I'll neet to try the gloves! And breathing exercises when I feel the urge also sounds like a good idea.

Look up "habit reversal" online and see what you think.

[CrazyLo]

Originally Posted by Karkki

Short nails doesn't really help me, since my nails are kind of wierd and I can't cut them as short as other people.

The condition in the DSM-V is called Neurotic Excoriation...formally known as Dermotillomania. It is a lesser known disorder than trichtotillomania but in my opinion it is actually more common than hair pulling. I have struggled with obsessive skin picking since I was 8 years old (20 years). In the summer I pick a lot at my legs and arms but the really troublesome spot for me is my scalp which I pick at all year long. I will spend many hours a day doing nothing but picking at my scalp. I usually end up getting bald spots when I'm going through a phase of especially excessive picking. Anyway, I quoted you because I have the same problem with my nails. My former therapist wanted me to cut my nails to prevent the picking...and when I showed her my newly trimmed nails she said "those aren't very short" and I'm like "Umm...they won't get any shorter than that." So cutting my nails doesn't help at all either. Since I mostly struggle with scalp picking, I've been coached into wearing hats around the house. It also helps me to fix my hair nicely so that I don't want to pick because picking would mess up my hair. I get a lot of headaches from picking because I guess I kind of scrunch up my forehead when I'm trying to pick off a scab.

Right now, I'm not currently in a phase of scalp-picking. Lately I've been picking at my legs a lot. It started out I had a bunch of mosquito bites on my legs and I scratched them so hard that I had scabs all over my legs. But then I just kept picking at the scabs. I also pick at ingrown hairs.

I have been told to wear gloves, also. I haven't tried it yet though. I've also been told to find something, anything really distracting. But that doesn't help me much because I will pick while I'm doing just about anything. The only thing I've noticed that helps me is something that keeps my hands totally busy. Like crocheting or doing art (not writing though...I can still pick while I'm writing because I take a lot of pauses). My current therapist has told me to use fidget toys. It's kind of helpful but you have to really want to not pick....whereas I am always torn between wanting to pick and not wanting to pick because I get a lot of pleasure out of it but it also wastes a lot of my day away.

[marmaduke]

I recently had a doctor asking me about my rash (went to see the doctor for something completely different), and in my embarrasment I just said it was due to allergies.

Yup that happened to me, so embarrassing, I said I had been bitten badly by nats!

Because I used to do it without thinking, in the end I put load of plasters on the spots so when I touched the plasters it reminded me not to pick. Took a long time, but it sorta worked. I only pick now when I'm extra stressed.
Its a form of self harm.

[Karkki]

Look up "habit reversal" online and see what you think.

I googled it, that really seems like something I could try with my therapist. I just need to tell her about this problem first. Right now I'm the only one who knows about it.

It's kind of helpful but you have to really want to not pick....whereas I am always torn between wanting to pick and not wanting to pick because I get a lot of pleasure out of it but it also wastes a lot of my day away.

I know, I also get a strange pleasure out of picking. And even though I really want to stop, I always end up doing it "just one more time".

I only pick now when I'm extra stressed.
Its a form of self harm.

It's really stress related for me too. I've been doing this to some extent for years, but it started getting really bad last winter during my super stressful internship. I started picking my scalp and ended up buying all kinds of expensive shampoos and other hair products because I thought I had some wierd skin condition, even though I was causing it myself. Right now I'm super stressed about my job, and it seems like the only things I do at the moment are working and picking my skin.

I never thought about it as a form of self harm, since I've used to cut, which I've managed not to do in a very long time now, and that was very different from my picking. When I cut I wanted it to hurt, when I pick I don't really care if it hurts or if I bleed, I just really need to pick my skin. But since I'm damaging my skin and have a few small wounds I'm actually a bit scared might get really inflamed but still keep on picking, it's quite clear it's also a form of self harm. Just another way to calm myself down.

[ankshuz]

I've been destroying the skin around my nails my whole life. I peel, pull and pick them until it bleeds - sometimes bleeds so much I need band-aids. Didn't realize this was a common occurrence in OCD until a few years ago.

I cannot stop it. It has plagued me since childhood.