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picks9876 , 01 Jun 2009

Scab Pickers--Do you save your scabs?

I can place the time that I started collecting my scabs. I was ten. I thought it looked really cool so I taped it to a sheet of black paper and hid it. I don't know what happened to it. My mom probably found it and didn't reconize what it was. Now I save as many as I can. I occasionaly look through them, especially the ones I really like. Yes, I like some scabs more than others. Does anyone else here do this, or is that specific to me?
14 Answers
picks9876
June 10, 2009
So, I'm guessing I'm the only one? Great... Just great...
JeannieK
June 11, 2009

In reply to by picks9876

Oh wait, think about what we are all doing....why does saving your scabs make you MORE different? If you saw in what position I am when I'm going at it you'd laugh your tush off....I get up ON my bathroom sink, turn the overhead light on and put my face about 6 inches from the medicine cabinet mirror and I can find that I do THAT HOURS into the night and like many can take away from sleep time. YOU tell ME how odd that is for a woman in her late 40s. People generally think I am in great shape and people guess me 10 to 12 years younger, granted, but STILL...PLUS I actually have a skin care business, so imagine what I am doing to my face by twisting it into all of those positions...wrinkles, marks...gracious heavens. Do NOT focus on scabs, trust me we all have enough looniness to go around....;-)
hottsoup123
June 11, 2009
yes. i did that too. and it started when i was nine. i dont anymore though... i used to pick my scalp and collect the scabs in a compartment of my dad's car. he found them and thought they were bugs or something...but yeahh.. and i know what you mean! some are better and some arent...like the big, cool-shaped ones that are hardish... and if nobody else besides you or me does this... then i guess we're just different. hahaha
Oreo
September 03, 2017

I save my scabs for a short time. I get upset if I lose one before I get to look at it. I like to see how many I can collect each time I pick them. I was trying to get information on why but have not been able to get the answers. It could be worse. I could be doing something illegal.

January_T
September 04, 2017

You're not the only one... I used to do this when I was younger. I liked to see scabs that are larger or thicker, and I would get upset if I lost them before actually observing them. I'm sure many people out there has this habit as well.

Jessica Horseman
October 04, 2017

Hello all! Happy to see someone has posted on this thread recently! I've read this thread a few times over the past couple of years but was afraid to comment... so first of all, good on us for being brave enough to reach out! I hope you all patted yourselves on the back after posting because I know I'm going to.

So I've struggled with not just picking but picking and collecting on and off for as long as I can remember. I want to stop so bad. It's gotten a lot worse lately, probably because I'm struggling more with anxiety and depression.

Does anyone have tips to quit? I'm in a long-term relationship and my partner knows about and accepts my picking disorder and it doesn't really bother them. They do it sometimes too, is what they told me :) but they do not know about the collecting and I do not feel ready to be out to anyone about it... and I'm afraid of being found out. I'm tired of hiding this really really difficult to fight compulsion, but also I gross even myself out and I want to quit before anyone finds out...

Know what I mean? Tips? Am I thinking about this wrong?

AnxietyNYC
December 18, 2020

I just recently started saving and I’m 45!!!!! And the picking has gotten so severe that my scalp and head ache because it’s so bloody and raw. It’s awful. My depression has definitely gotten worse. You are not alone. Even tho I know how that feeling just hurts like a mthr

.Gingersnap.
February 23, 2021

I do not, but looking through this forum I'm glad there's support for people who do :)

scabbypatty
May 01, 2021

I have been doing this for years. It started as a joke with my girlfriend but it became a natural extension of my already raging obsession with picking scabs. I get upset if one won't come off completely or if I lose one. I have a small plastic jar full of larger scabs I have picked. While I don't really think about it anytime other than while I am picking a scab, I would be upset if it was to disappear. I tend to keep picking at a wound to keep having scabs to pick and wounds last much longer than they should because of this behavior. Obviously I know this is not healthy, but I really can't help myself. It takes me a great deal of effort and discipline to ignore a wound and allow it to finally heal. I am glad to have found this site and found that I am not alone.

akamikkun
April 06, 2022

Yes, I do that too. I am born with a skin allergy but  my scab picking disorder started not a long time ago. I don't know why but it satisfies me even if I knew it can irritate more. It gives me pleasure every time I can peel some dry scabs and I recently collect it. I'm embarrassed for others to know so I secretly kept in a container. It became like a habit even though it hurts sometimes and even there is blood sometimes. I thought that it was just me doing it but now I read that there is really this kind of disorder. It is also true for me that I can get lack of sleep at night because of this.

toast
December 19, 2022

Wow, thank you everyone for posting. My heart is racing while I type this. Like saying it out loud for the first time ever.

I'm 54, female. I have picked off and collected scabs and dandruff off my scalp for years... maybe 40 years!! I feel deeply ashamed. But I don't want to stop. I would hate if anyone knew I did this. My horrible secret.

I have kept the same spots going on my scalp for several years. I look over them several times a day, with a mixture of revulsion, shame and delight. On my laptop. Then when there is too many, I'll put them in an envelope and start again.

I feel there is something seriously wrong with me. My hairdresser knows I pick at the scabs. She has talked about her own self harm, so I guess she thinks it's the same kind of thing. Maybe it is. 

I have suffered from depression in the past, but don't seem to have any other mental illnesses. I find it comforting. 

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