STOP PICKING - START LIVINGSTOP PICKING - START LIVINGThe advance of medical research for compulsive skin picking has played a major role in the discovering of new treatment options. However these options tend to be centred around the traditional psychological therapeutic modalities. Skin picking disorder has no known definitive cause and therefore treatment, and is so unique from person to person, we should consider alternative therapies as well. One such therapy is brain gym.
The term brain training or brain exercise reflects a hypothesis that cognitive abilities can be maintained or improved by exercising the brain, in analogy to the way physical fitness is improved by exercising the body. A straightforward arrangement of activities could help your brain work better, making you more keen, more astute – and significantly more confident. Brain Gym involves simple body developments which have been intended to coax the two sides of the brain to work in synchronization.
Many people pick at their skin once in a while, but sometimes it crosses the line into a condition called skin picking disorder (excoriation). Picking at the skin can become so frequent and intense that it causes bleeding, sores, and scars. Some people with this disorder repeatedly scratch to try to remove what they see as some kind of imperfection in their skin. If you compulsively pick your skin to the point that you hurt yourself in the process, hate the way your skin looks due to the skin picking, tried to stop picking your skin but can’t stop yourself, then this article is for you.
The importance of self-esteem should not be underestimated. It affects ones behaviour and thoughts. People with compulsive skin picking disorder often lack self-confidence because of the way they look after picking the skin. While there are treatment options that can help you with the skin picking, there are also products that can help improve how your skin looks. The good news is that there are scar treatments and skin-care technologies that can obliterate hyperpigmentation and retexturize skin to make scars a thing of the past.
Make up
Compulsive skin picking is not merely a harmless habit. From infections that can hurt your health to embarrassment about simply shaking hands, CSP has serious effects for those challenged by it. Typically, individuals with excoriation disorder find that the disorder interferes with daily life. Hindered by shame, embarrassment, and humiliation, they may take measures to hide their disorder by not leaving home, wearing long sleeves and pants even in heat, or covering visible damage to skin with bandages. Activities such as typing may be painful for those who pick at their fingers or hands, or walking for those who pick at the soles of their feet.
There are various options that one can opt for to try and let go of the cycle of picking their skin. Treatment options for skin picking such as Habit Reversal Training (HRT), This common treatment for excessive skin picking is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The therapist will work with you to identify the emotional and environmental triggers for your urge to pick, and teach you strategies for coping whith skin picking disorder. The goal is to learn to manage urges in a healthy way rather than pick on your skin.
A client once spoke about something called Vipassana Meditation, saying that she found it very helpful in managing her skin picking urges. We decided to research Vipassana and see if we could identify potential benefits for other skin pickers out there.
Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It is a balanced technique for refining the mind of the mental elements that cause distress and torment. It is a state of self-regulation of your attention and the ability to direct it towards breathing, eating, or something else. Curiosity, openness, and acceptance are all part of insight meditation.
We operate in a very medicalized model of health and wellness. This is partially the reason mental health has suffered such severe stigma for many, many years. We tend to discount the intangible, including the influence of the mind and our emotions on our well being. However for many people with compulsive skin picking disorder, the onset and continued struggle with the disorder is linked to their emotional and psychological health. While there may be neurological or physiological explanations and descriptions available for how the brain or body functions during times when the urge to pick is high, it still does not answer the why. Dr Joy Saville, a doctor with the Tibb Ibn Sina Institute believes that we need to look at wellness holistically in order to combat ill health. Dr Saville is passionate about health and wellness, and is particularly interested in the marriage btween ancient and modern systems of medicines. She has shared her insights with us in this guest blog:
If you are living with compulsive skin picking, you already know what a toll it takes – both physically and emotionally. A skin picking episode may be a focused response to anxiety or depression, but is also frequently done as an automatic habit. Those who live with dermatillomania know that the negative effects extend far beyond the physical.
Dermatillomania isn't as straightforward as popping a few pimples. There is an over the top nature behind the urge, which is the reason it's been categorized as an Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorder. There is a repetitive nature behind picking at your skin whether it's a conscious choice to place yourself before a mirror and 'pursue'; an action that starts without you noticing while you sit in front of the TV; or something you do while you rest. Skin picking turns into a disorder when you can't stop yourself at the time, can't control when you're doing it/how regularly you do it, and it influences your everyday living while affecting your self-esteem.
The first step in treating dermatillomania, like any other psychological disorder, is to acknowledge thet there is a problem and that you need help to address it. Research on treatment of dermatillomania and other body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) is limited. Although there is no definitive cure, there are a lot of treatment options recommended. Some may not work for you as much as they work for others. The trick is to find something that helps reduce your urge to pull. In this post we will discuss hypnotherapy as a treatment option.
Hypnotherapy is a two way process between the therapist and the client, a professional partnership. People cannot be hypnotised unless he or she agrees and co-operates. What hypnotherapists do is, by definition, therapeutic. Stage hypnosis is very different and is considered as a form of entertainment.
Everyone dealing with compulsive skin picking faces huge challenges of constantly picking their skin. For most dealing with compulsive skin picking, the primary trigger is stress. Stress at work, stress at home – whenever you feel anxiety, fear or worry, you’re more likely to indulge in the compulsive behaviour. Unfortunately, skin picking does nothing to relieve the stress and ultimately just adds to it. A big part of skin picking treatment and tips focuses on learning better ways to handle stress as well as ways to recognize triggers before they happen so you can be more vigilant about actively choosing not to pick your skin.
There are 2 methods of habit reversal for reducing picking - reducing the urge to pick by limiting exposure to the triggers for picking; and resisting the urge to pick by finding alternative actions or tasks that competes with the act of picking.
Find Out The Severity of Your Symptoms With This Free Online Diagnostic Tool