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FruityLoop , 26 Sep 2013

Anyone want to do the 30 day challenge together?

Hi everyone, I am hoping to meet a small group of people through email and keep in touch on a regular basis to update each other of picking. I'm thinking daily, in the least creepy way. (⊙_◎) I will definitely try and make it funnyish. I'm a 27 year old woman. I've been picking since the age of 13. I've attempted the 30 day challenges, but I get about 4 or 5 days in with a significant improvement in my face, and then I seem to lose it and go crazy for the rest of the 30 day challenge. I am trying to start a business, but being home alone is proving challenging for my face and body. I have a lot of ambition, but have missed out on a lot due to the state of my skin. I'm also super keen to go on dates without the person thinking I have the herpes virus on my face. Can't even imagine getting naked. Only about 6 months ago did I tell my parents about the picking, and my best friend last month, which felt very exposing. So finally I am reaching out to beat this. I want to own this, instead of it owning me. I really think having friends in the same situation will help, so whomever is keen to join me and be awesome I want to meet you virtually. Lauren *(*´∀`*)☆
25 Answers
bebrave1
September 26, 2013
Hi Lauren, I would love to do this challenge with you. I am a 22 year old woman and have been picking also since the age of 13. I've never attempted this challenge before (i've had other 'resolutions' in the past that miserably fail), so this would be the first time i've attempted it as a team effort together! Alex
FruityLoop
September 27, 2013

In reply to by bebrave1

Hi bebrave1, Likewise! I think having people rooting for you would make a huge difference. Send me an email at tripl3h3lix (at) yahoo (dot) com so I can add you to the thread. So excited to have you join! Lauren :)
tryingsohard
September 26, 2013
Hi Lauren, I'm interested in the 30-day challenge as well. how do you want to proceed? -Nicky
wontawn
September 26, 2013
Hi! I think I would like to try this as well. I'm 22 and I started picking my lips 5 years ago I think, first with my nails and then also with my teeth so most of the damage is on the inside of my mouth. Truthfully I don't remember when I started. I didn't think anything of it for a long time. The longest I've ever gone without picking is a month (like a year or two ago) and then I fell back into it again. It gets especially bad when I'm driving or anxious about something. I want so badly to stop but I don't feel like I'm capable of doing it. I told my husband to call me out if he ever sees me doing it but that just makes me feel even more ashamed and anxious. Focusing on my breathing has helped when I'm driving but I just don't know what to do at this point.
FruityLoop
September 29, 2013

In reply to by wontawn

Hi wontawn, Yeah, I am also super sensitive when people call me out, even when I've asked them too. Sometimes I think I'm not ready to give up the habit and I defend it when people tell me off because in some disturbing way, it's been my friend in helping me cope...with whatever I need to cope with. That is what I want to change, the idea that I need it to get by. I think you focusing on breathing is superb! I'm sure this will be slow, and the journaling is just a way of pulling the stress triggers and general habitual stuff out of the subconscious. Partly why I want the community is it's super taxing and emotionally draining when you're in the mania part of it trying to keep it together long enough to not pick. I started wearing gloves, and until I lost them, they really helped. Wearing them also made me relax because it was like the alcohol was out of the room, if that makes sense. I am going to go buy another pair. Do you have any idea why you may have started picking? Any stress and anxiety?
wontawn
September 29, 2013

In reply to by FruityLoop

I think it's definitely from anxiety. I didn't know this until recently but my sister also suffers from OCD and anxiety attacks and my mom doesn't handle stress very well either. I'm thinking it may be hereditary. My sister's OCD has morphed a little bit over the years from pulling eyelashes to an eating disorder to different phobias so maybe that is why I just started picking a couple years ago. Maybe I had another way of coping with it when I was younger and didn't realize it. I wish wearing gloves could solve mine. I'll use my nails if no one is around but most of the time I'm at work so I just bite the skin off my lips layer by layer until it bleeds. Even during meetings or when I'm with other people. I'm just praying they aren't noticing what I'm doing. I think I need to start carrying chapstick/lip gloss around with me so I won't want to bite them as much. Gum also helps. Sometimes when it is really raw I'll eat something sour so it burns and I won't want to bite it anymore. The first time I noticed it was while I was driving. I hate driving and it makes me really anxious so my husband drives most of the time but when I do I just gnaw on my lips the whole time. I went to the dentist a couple weeks ago and they said I was grinding my teeth down also :( I really don't want to have to take anxiety medication for this. Do most people usually have to do that?
FruityLoop
September 30, 2013

In reply to by wontawn

I am sorry to hear your family also suffers. That mustn't help relieve your stress. My brother also suffers anxiety almost to the point of paranoia, and my mum is a ball of stress, but dishonest about it. --- I started skin picking at 13, around the same time I stopped grinding my teeth in my sleep. A dentist once told me than teeth grinding can be a way to release stress. I must have been grinding since before age 8. You can be fitted for a mouth guard, or if you find driving the main time you bite your lips, maybe you should wear a store bought mouth guard that you fit at home, like the gloves. They are cheaper than having them made by a dentist. I think if you needed an excuse for wearing one at work, doctor's orders is always a good one. :) ----- I moved overseas when I was 19 for school, and upon returning home after a few years, my mother let out a high pitched shriek, which isn't uncommon for her, over something like food left out of the fridge or something, and like a bullet I could feel stress just flood my body. Enough that I had to take large gulps of air. While staying with her, I was also anticipating her shrieking at me for something, which would also flood my body with what I assume is some chemical response to danger. Haha I don't know. I've always been known as the happiest, bubbliest idiot who always sees the positive and tries to make everyone happy, and I think now, just because of having that distance from her, that a lot of it has stemmed from that relationship. When I told my parents about the picking and seeing a therapist, they couldn't even talk about it. They sort of ignored it. It was by far the most bizarre interaction I've had with them. And it also showed me that with all the courage it took for me to tell them, and take charge and responsibility for my problems, that they weren't going to help me get through it, or at the very least be caring. That was hard, but it's made me grow a bit. -- I've never considered anxiety medication. I don't know anything about it. I have heard about an anxiety scale which covers the initial feeling of anxiety till it reaches it's peak, then eventually fades away. The idea is about being aware of the scale while in the anxiety attack, trying to talk yourself in enduring it till it passes. -- I have a sheet somewhere I can send you. I might start to carry a bag with me that contains gloves, the anxiety scale sheet, maybe a sheet on specifics like what to do on a trip to the bathroom to avoid picking, or driving the car, anything else that would prevent me picking. An emergency kit that I could have everywhere.
wontawn
October 01, 2013

In reply to by FruityLoop

Wow, I can totally relate with my mom. It stresses me out to be around her sometimes because she is always freaking out. I think the emergency kit is a great idea also. I think I am going to look into getting a mouthguard. The gum is helping but it doesn't necessarily stop me from biting.
FruityLoop
September 27, 2013
Wow, I am so excited to meet you all! My email address is tripl3h3lix (at) yahoo (dot) com. (Trying to avoid spammers) If the girls/boys/women/men who haven't posted their email want to email me, I will start a email thread soon, so we can all reply to each other. I know that what is hard about trying to stop is how time consuming it is. Hopefully, you won't mind being barged with emails for the a few months, to a year, depending on how well this goes. You can always be asked to be taken off. I figure picking of any sort needs a lot of consideration and effort to make any kind of change. From what I gather, it progressed slowly into a habit, like most addictions, so we feel a bit caught off guard and sensitive about it, what it's done to our appearance, and what is says about us as people. Treating it seriously is dedicating every minute to it instead of brushing it under the rug, which is how it can feel when confiding in others, desperate for help. So basically what I am saying is no shame here. Tell us everything. What you think might be your triggers, if a stress ball helps, diet and exercise, etc. Maybe go over your daily routine from getting ready in the morning, covering mirrors, leaving the lights off, to wearing gloves while relaxing at night. Whether you maybe need to spend less time alone. Let's expose this pain-in-the-ass. What I really want to put importance on in these daily chats are solutions and goals. I was contemplating a reward system, but know that I personally don't care about material rewards enough to change my behavior. I am interested in, for example, someone having a goal of taking up swimming lessons or something which involves us being exposed, and working towards that goal, discussing how it felt and keeping up a routine. That would make me thrilled to know people are going out and being involved in life. When I start the email thread I will bullet point a lot of this and add stuff. Feel free to think of things that might help. Super pumped! x
hopestartshere
October 02, 2013

In reply to by FruityLoop

Hello lovely, Would you be kind enough to email me to jenbags007(at)hotmail(dot)com? I have tried to email you but not sure whether I am using the right address> Thank you so much x
hopestartshere
October 02, 2013
Wow I am so excited to find this post. I'm 31 and been picking since I was 15ish. I had a "pick free" period for some years whilst on a certain contraceptive pill which made my skin pretty blemish free. However, for whatever reason, in the last few weeks my skin has become extremely unsettled and my picking has returned with full vengeance. The irony is that in the past, I have also suffered with anorexia, which then morphed into secret binge eating. A couple of months ago I joined OA which has really helped my eating, but I seem to have exchanged the bingeing compulsion for picking :( I currently have 14 very sore and raw crater wounds over my face and neck where I have picked and dug with tweezers. I believe the only way through this truly agonising illness is with group support... Even if we have to just take things one hour at a time and reach out to one another to pledge abstinence from picking for one hour. I would love to join an email list provided ppl won't get super pissed off if I reach out frequently to get through the picking urge barrier... I won't expect ppl to email back each time, but I have found such reaching out to be absolutely invaluable in working through compulsive binge urges and I think this strategy could also really help to overcome the picking. My email address is jenbags007athotmaildotcom. I'm desperate and would be so grateful for a close support community. Jen xx
FruityLoop
October 03, 2013

In reply to by hopestartshere

So glad you can join us Jen!!! I just watched a video on Anorexia the other day and I can see the similarities. I have a bit of a binging problem too, mostly when I'm stressed. I see similarities in seeing the results of your actions and still thinking....just this last one. Thinking that the end justifies the means. I feel the same way about the abstinence and I want people to email as frequently as they need to!! It's an every second issue, so I'd love people to incorporate daily routines and changes so we all really try to make a continuous conscious effort, as much of a struggle as it is. I once started using needles to pick, and to very bad result. I don't keep them in the house anymore. Maybe it's best you get rid of any tools you may use to pick. I have removed and covered mirrors. It's really hard when one bad moment takes a month to heal and it super bumpy. It's a real test that often continues for months to no avail. I almost feel that when you're skin is doing better you should email as frequently to get comfortable with not searching or touching clear skin for irregularities. Just recently I started saying to myself in conscious moments of stress, that I am in control of how I react. It's still hard, but I think it makes me see it more about the stress than the picking.
Lovemydogs
October 02, 2013
Hi Lauren! My name is Lindsay. You sound so much like me. I'm 34 and have been picking since childhood. I'm also starting my own business so I have similar issues. I'd love to join the challenge if I still can. I look forward to getting better with you! Lindsay
hopestartshere
October 02, 2013

In reply to by Lovemydogs

Hi Lindsay, I'm really inspired that someone else is wanting to join the challenge too. My email address is jenbags007athotmaildotcom. I have tried to email the one Lauren has kindly typed out but haven't had a reply yet.....but then I may have typed it out wrong. Therefore if anyone has any tips as to how to type the correct address that would be great. I really feel that my recivery would be helped so much if I could reach out regularly through the day/night when the urge to pick is around , that it could really make a difference. Let's all do this xxx

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