- Username
- Banana413
- Date posted
- 22w ago
Skin picking
I’m not sure how to stop picking at my skin. It makes me sad to always see scabs all over my face, it ruins all my pictures. Any tips?
I’m not sure how to stop picking at my skin. It makes me sad to always see scabs all over my face, it ruins all my pictures. Any tips?
Record how you feel before you pick. Record how you feel during picking. Record how you feel after picking. The after was always tragic for me.. eventually you can recognize the before feelings quicker and will want to prevent yourself from getting to the after feelings. Every single time you fight through the urge and don’t pick, you weaken it. Imagine each time you fight through the “urge hump” becomes less and less steep. I worked with a behavioral therapist for years with this and the imagery of that hump flattening still stays with me. Hope this helps and you will be always be okay
@DD115 Thank you so much for sharing your experience and advice with me. 💗
Two things have really helped me in my skin picking journey! One would be, keep your hands busy! I highly recommend something like slime or even a picky pad! Two, funny enough is fake nails. I understand not everyone would want nails on, but they are perfectly rounded and unable to pierce skin. Once it heals it will get easier as there will be less scabs. This is what has worked for me, hope it helps!
@lizzibabe Thank you! I appreciate it💗
Hey! I used to struggle with this really bad, but I’ve made significant progress. What are your triggers? And when do you usually pick? (For example, only in front of mirrors? Only at night? etc)
@catladymeow111 I definitely do it more in front of a mirror, but I feel like I do it all day long no matter what. What hailed helped
@Banana413 A few things have helped me, so i’m going to list them all, sorry for the long message! : 1. A face washing routine. This is so hard to keep consistent, but romanticizing taking care of yourself and washing your face is a great way to practice self care and become a “caregiver” of your face rather than try to hurt it. You want to love your face, not harm it. Rewiring your brain to touch your face with only gentle love is a great place to start. 2. Making yourself extremely aware when you’re about to start picking / before you even start. For me, I would pick and daydream, so I wouldn’t even realize I was doing it. I would think about what is stressing me out or just think about anything at all. Now, I make myself very aware before I do it, and I repeat to myself “look don’t touch” in front of a mirror, because I know if I touch, it will have consequences (scabs, lowering my self esteem, causing more acne, etc). 3. Repetitive positive thoughts. Think about how relieving it will be to reduce this habit. “If I don’t pick, I will feel so good about myself.” “I love my face, so I won’t pick it.” You can even say “I don’t pick my face anymore” and stop immediately. Whatever will work for you. 4. Journaling. Write down all the reasons why you want to stop picking, how it will make you feel better about yourself, how you strive to have selfies without worrying about scabs. Write down your goals. This is so hard. I still pick to this day, but my face picking is very, very minimal because I repeat to myself “look don’t touch. I don’t want to hurt my face.” Maybe your positive thoughts will look different than mine, but practicing resisting the urge with repetitive thoughts and discipline will go a long way. You don’t have to deal with the consequences of picking your face, you can prevent them, and I think that’s a great thing to look forward to as your journey begins. You will see progress, and you will feel proud of yourself! And of course, bad days happen. Those are a part of progress, and you are not alone
@catladymeow111 my main issue currently is dermatillomania and picking my face so I’m looking through this app for help, and this comment is so so good! Thank you!
for the past 12 days i’ve really been struggling with feeling contaminated, over washing my hands yet they never feel clean, washing them so hard that i start to sweat and my arms give out. i feel like parts of my body are contaminated from being outside. instead of showering and washing my face like a normal person im avoiding myself because im afraid. im afraid that my hands will get contaminated and i wont stop washing my hands. (i know it doesn’t make sense but im experiencing a lot of stress that’s causing my bladder muscles to tighten and i can’t hold in my pee, i need my hands to be clean to even lower my pants) if i get stuck in a handwashing cycle ill pee myself and i never feel brave enough to start. this week has been very hard for me, struggling to eat, sleep, and bathe. i feel i have to move very carefully just to navigate life in a way that won’t stress me out. the fear of touching these areas and my brain constantly convincing me i did had been very hard on me. i know the answer is obvious but i don’t know how to build up the confidence to do these things. i’ve been in a very stressed out and suicidal state for the past month i really dont want to trigger any negative feelings but this isn’t any better. what can i do to just… i guess not be afraid and go for it?
i can’t stop obsessing over how i look and thinking about how ugly i look i feel like i’m going insane i keep looking at pictures of myself and i just feel so disgusting my lips are so small and without makeup i literally look like a man and i just compare myself to my friends and people i see online all day i literally cant take it anymore like i just feel so worthless all the time bc of my appearance i would literally do anything to feel beautiful
Any tips on how to stop SH?
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