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ladylazarus , 06 Sep 2010

It's a dangerous cycle...

I've been skin-picking since I was five years old, I'm now eighteen. In the last few months it has worsened significantly, to the point of me spending hours at a time picking at my skin, several times a day. I have recently been diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, that has in turn made me severely depressed, anxious, exhibit symptoms of anorexia and develop much worse dermatillomania. I pick at my shoulders, arms, chest, breasts, stomach, thighs, calves, face and back. Usually it begins with a pimple or a blackhead that I will squeeze to the point of breaking the skin, and then I will pick at that continuously. I usually will lose my sense of reality and actually believe that picking the dried blood scabs off the sores will make them heal better than if I just left them. I'm really scared because no-one knows about this - I convince everyone around me that the sores are from a skin disorder that I have. I have even convinced my own mum of this, who has known for years that I picked at my skin as a child.

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