- Date posted
- 34w 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!
I’m not saying any of this to be rude or hateful in any way!! Basically, I like this guy and I really love him, but, everytime I look at this one photo of him, I keep noticing he looks unflattering and it makes me worry, because I’m scared what if he’s ugly? And why does that even matter? Why can’t I just love him in peace without having to check his photo to make sure he’s not ugly? Like that sounds really rude and disrespectful and it hurts even more to know that he’s self conscious and I would NEVER want to hurt him so I don’t tell him I check his photo to make sure he’s not ugly, I get anxious when I notice/feel that he is unattractive/unflattering, so I check till I feel certain that I don’t think he’s ugly, why do I even do this? Why does it matter? Why does my brain make it difficult to even look at a photo without worrying, can I be normal? I say “I think he’s cute/I love him” to his photo and my brain is like “nope cuz he’s unattractive” then I get worried and for what??? I ask myself why do I care and I genuinely don’t know
I’ve been struggling with this for the part year and it’s been horrible I hate my life and I feel like nothing works , please help or feel free to share tips or your own story
I need advice. I’m constantly washing my hands after going to the bathroom/touching something I find gross, but it doesn’t stop at just washing. I have to keep washing til I feel right (usually 3-4 times). It also isn’t just my hands, I go all the way up my forearms. I know in my head that once is enough. But I can’t kick this repetitive behavior. I know I should just start only washing it once but I don’t know if I can handle the panic that will come after. I need advice/tips if anyone’s gone through something similar what worked for you. Im just sick of this
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