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Any recommendations on how to stop skin picking? :(

I was more social in highschool but i made the mistake of taking off college and work to babysit my niece and nephew and it really took a toll on me i ended up being a homebody for 3 years now , I’ve disconnected with my friends , except one . We literally hangout every single day but only if we’re smoking getting high to escape. I dont have relationships with my family really, like i live with my mom, dad , and two sisters but i dont tell them anything about my life cause i feel they will think im overreacting or “ it will be okay just throw yourself back out there” and just not understand how hard it really is . I dont talk to the family outside of my household because talking to people is really awkward to me and thats how i lost my friends , i cant seem to keep conversations going and cant keep an relationship. I feel as if i have to know what to say and think about what to say when talking to somebody cause im scared of just looking stupid . I know sounds dumb right ? Me being shy and having anxiety and depression has missed me so many opportunities in life and i feel like im just wasting my days being sad over life and how im feeling and the thoughts racing through my brain constantly. I literally think about past events and future and even have conversations in my head that hasn’t happen so i can be prepared. Literally dont know why im like that lol. My head sucks. Im very insecure which makes it even harder on me i hate the way i look and don’t believe what anybody says but compliments feel nice. I hate my mind and always thinking negative thoughts on a daily basics. I hate where im at in life literally doing nothing with my life . Like i WANT better i NEED better but i just cant 😭 i will literally get soo damn sad going to a grocery store or even out to eat or doing anything dealing with people other than the people i live in the same house with or the one friend i see everyday. I know i need therapy but im not sure how to say everything like i even prepared for that and had conversations with a therapist in my head lol but i just cant find myself to go get help and im mentally and emotionally drained. … i really just think i made this post to vent or meet someone that mighttt be the same lol idk . Just wanted to write it out and let some people see it since i cant vent …..

I don’t know whether i have false memory ocd etc. I use to have OCD when I was growing up but then I thought I left it behind however I had one night very intoxicated and I don’t know if I’ve committed an awful crime, I have not officially got a diagnosis so don’t know if what my brain is telling me is true, what do you all suggest I’m waiting for a referral to see a therapist

my muscles keep twitching. i don’t really exercise a lot anymore— i used to until the anxiety came. i’m scared. i kept looking up tiktoks on ALS and MND (something which i SHOULD NOT HAVE DONE.) i know it can be due to vitamin deficiencies (i’m taking daily supplements), stress (if i’m not having a full on panic attack then i’m convinced i’m not stressed), and lack of sleep/dehydration (probably the cause). i’m scared. so so scared.

Hi. I wake up very anxious, i feel disconnected from the world so now i know it’s not only from my bf so it kind of calms me down to know it’s not him, but i also feel so convinced i want it to stop, im scared i dont want to break up, but it feels like it’s going to happen, or that is time because its been 2 yrs. Please help, how can i manage this when i feel disturbed and very convinced like we not connected, and many more things that are hard for me like intimacy, im always in my head. Please any advice

i don't know who i am. trauma and bad choices. being exposed to things as a kid. developing an addiction. I'm not happy with who i was. now i don't know what i am. i have thoughts and feelings and they are processed. i have a face and a voice and i seem to fit in sometimes. but i don't fit in anywhere. i don't know if I'm really there. I'm kind of just along for the ride. my eyes are seeing things and the information is being relayed to me. what is me. who is me. how many of me are there inside my shell. how many masks do i have. what am i. who's emotions are i feeling. who's thoughts am i having. am i good or bad. do i exist at all. am i a ghost. am i a mannequin. am i a puppet. am i an actor. what are my motives. what is my goal. who controls me. it hurts. help.

[MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNINGS: mentions of diseases, self h@rm, and su1c1dality] i’ll start by saying this has been the hardest three months of my life. i’ve had OCD symptoms since i was 12, but they’ve only gotten completely debilitating 3 months ago, when my geneticist looked at my eczema (that runs in my family) and said “this doesn’t look like eczema. this looks abnormal, and more like psoriasis.” so, i went to google, and looked up every type of dermatitis there was. and the only type that actually looked like mine was a type of precancer called large plaque parapsoriasis. and my entire life flipped upside down. first, it was parapsoriasis. then, i spiraled. i started looking up every ache and pain in my body. every bump, every muscle cramp, everything. “just to make sure.” and lo and behold, every single symptom had a reason behind it that was my worst fear. back pain? cancer. leg pain? cancer. sweaty at night? cancer. headache? cancer. dizziness upon standing? cancer. i thought i was losing my mind. i could no longer sleep at night— every time i nearly fell asleep, i woke myself back up. “what if this is the last time you ever fall asleep?” and then… that thought spiraled to other things. “what if this is the last time you ever open the fridge?” “what if this is the last time you ever watch TV?” “what if this is the last time you ever hug your mother?” i became frozen with fear. i began to confuse my worries for intuition, and the thoughts started to become more and more sure. i isolated myself entirely from the outside world, and trapped inside my home is where the compulsions began. i began praying every morning after waking up, and every night before going to bed (i’m agnostic). i began repeating in my head “i do not have cancer, i do not have cancer” at least 10 times each hour… and then it became 10 times each minute. i began trying to find evidence to prove to my brain that i don’t have cancer. i even went through a phase of being afraid of bone cancer, so i’d stop my foot against the floor/bang my arm again the wall with ALL MY MIGHT to see if it fractures or breaks, and when it didn’t, i’d say “could someone with bone cancer do THAT?” it was irrational, but i was desperate— i couldn’t sleep, i couldn’t eat, i was full of dread every waking moment, despite my health getting better and better at every doctors appointment i went to. “they must be missing something… a diagnosis is just a professional opinion, after all.” then… it got better, but it also got worse. my doctor listened to me talk about my horrible health anxiety and said “this is not living. this is no way to live.” and then started me on Lexapro. i made improvements instantly, but they didn’t completely take away the problem— they just stopped the stomach pain that comes with my constant panic attacks. they didn’t stop the obsessive thoughts… those got worse. every tiktok, youtube video, instagram post, song, etc that i got shown on my fyp that had to do with nursing, sickness, hospice care, or anything like that suddenly became a “sign”. a sign from god that i was dying. and that’s where i am now. terrified. tired. depressed. lonely. irritable. trying to pick up the exhausted pieces of the mostly happy person i once was. i’m so tired. i’m going to a psychiatrist in November to be assessed for OCD, as my mom, a few of my mom’s friends (who are all diagnosed with OCD), and my doctor all think i have it. and after joining this community… i finally think they might be right. i’m surprised i’m still here with these symptoms, there were times when i just wanted to give up. if i get diagnosed with OCD, i want to fund research into it someday so that way we can figure out what causes it and catch it early, so nobody ever suffers like i am again. sorry for completely venting here… i hope this didn’t trigger anybody…

I feel so weird for noticing certain body parts in kids like whyyy and I just notice it and sometimes it feels like I look bc I’m curious or want to :/ but idk bc I do that bc I feel like I’m trying to figure out something but idk I’m scared 😭 like it feels like an urge to want to like look at them :(, idk I just see it now and especially if their built a certain way which I fucking hate but it feels like I’m a true p :( does this happen to anyone? Idk what to do or idk

I am a feeling who is currently in a relationship with the literal love of my life. But a year and a half ago I had a same sex dream which was really hard and depressing to understand but I forgot about it for MONTHS until 2 months ago I had another and I started to spiral about it and obsess over it and the meanings and the whys and what ifs. Keep in mind I’ve never ever seen girls like that and have never been with a girl or seen a girl in any way, I’ve always been attracted to men my whole life. But these dreams have caused me to convince myself I’m not straight and now my anxiety is too severe and I’m in a depressive state of mind. I have been diagnosed with OCD of two kinds. I now wake up with severe anxiety and throw up bile cause I instantly have thoughts, specifically intrusive thoughts. I’ve lost an excessive amount of weight because of this and it’s affected the way I feel about my relationship and how I see it. I feel like this is a never ending cycle for me and I will never get past this. It’s to the point I’m suicidal cause I hate these dreams and intrusive thoughts. Along with my relationship I think we don’t belong or that I’m too complicated for him. There’s just so much on my mind and I feel like I’m not me anymore. I feel lost and hopeless, someone please help.

Has any one here ever gotten the groinal response. It makes everything so much more confusing.

i have been seriously thinking about asking my doctor to stop taking SSRI, it helped me a lot but at same time it feels weird, sad stuff wont make me cry anymore like movies or stuff, and it makes me feels weird, ik my ocd will probbly get worse but i think it is the better path to me :/ i dunno.. anyways, while i used sertraline i gathered some tools against my harm ocd and i have been seriously thinking about fighting it without meds, but with pure erp, what should i do?

How do you practice to be more present, not spend too much time thinking you will break up, or dont see a future together, and what has helped you during intimacy, for me its really hard like i never want ti even talk about it, i get very anxious, and start thinking that must mean something, but i know i want to be with my partner.

my ocd started in the age of 12-13 years.it’s the age then children are developing their own view on world, the age then they are turning to teenagers and start to think on their own, become a person with its own needs and opinion. but it became impossible to grow up then you are living in survival mode. when my peers were learning how to fight for themselves, i was learning how to hate myself , how to be afraid of myself and how to sabotage everything i was trying to do. ocd not only took a lot of years and possibilities from me but also took my right to have time and possibility for growing up. in a month i’m turning 26 years, but i don’t know how to fight for myself, i feel like all bad things people tell or do to me are deserved. so what now?.. i really try hard to learn this “language of living in society” but when you’re doing it at my age, it doesn’t help a lot. i feel like an alien who doesn’t understand earth human race. i’m afraid of this world and so so tired

I’m curious to know what everyone’s compulsions are. Some of mine are picking my nails, and my skin

I’m done with it all, I don’t know what’s true or what’s not anymore I feel scared I’m hiding something from one drunk night out, I feel as though I ruined my life that night that could’ve put me in jail due to doing something inappropriate with a female I have not heard anything or nothings came about from it but because I was intoxicated I don’t know what’s true, I’m done I can’t carry on it’s been over 1 year.

I’ve been seeing a therapist for almost 10 years. He’s helped me through sooo much. Recently I talked to him about a big (so I perceived) problem recently. He helped me through the situation and the actions I wanted to take to address it. Now I realize I was in a HUGE OCD spiral. Is it too much to expect him to have picked up on that and to only have addressed it through OCD strategies. He’s certified and we’ve done ERP before but only when I’ve asked/initiated it…. Do I need a new therapist?

I keep having these thoughts that I’m not good enough for anyone or anything because I’m not pure from the inside because of my trauma and mental illness and family issues, it’s like I’m dirty or broken in the inside and I must get cleaned or fixed, whenever I have a crush on someone I immediately get these thoughts, I’m not pure or clean from the inside, and why would this guy bother to get in a relationship with me when there are girls who had peaceful childhood in a loving household and are mentally stable and they are way more positive and cheerful than me, a relationship with them would be healthier, easier, and happier. And it doesn’t only apply to relationships, even friendships. I’m aware these are intrusive thoughts and OCD doesn’t define me, however I feel like these thoughts are right, I am actually not pure and full of traumas and complexes which makes any kind of relationship with me so difficult.

I have not been able to find peace since I had a hallucination that last 5 seconds. Before the hallucination I had a fear of schizophrenia and also had covid which made me worry ten times more. The day of the hallucination that last 5 seconds I only had about 3-4 hours of sleep on a early release. Ever snice then I been constantly worrying and paranoid because of it. Therapist unlikely to have schizophrenia and when I went to the hospital I was the least crazy person In there and told me go home because I'm not crazy told me to get off the internet and do something instead which is something I need to do I know On school weeks I stay up till 12 and wake up at 5:15 and stay up all day and then I get home sleep at the same time or I take a nap for like hour or two then up most of the night till like 1 and then I go back to sleep till I have to wake up again at 5:15 But I can't find peace with it being sleep problems to me I feel it mean I'm dying have schizophrenia or some type of cancer

I’m afraid ocd has changed me. It’s so hard for me to pray that I’ll still be straight or not to have my fears come true like in the beginning. That makes me anxious. I’m afraid to lose my fear because then what if it comes true. I’m afraid I’ll like it and just naturally change. I can’t explain it

Today someone told me to kill myself and how I should knowing I have a suicidal history. I reported them to messenger, but is there anything legal I can do? I’m pretty pissed and I think that they deserve more than a slap on the wrist. This is the third time someone has told me to kill myself.