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Emily_91 , 19 Dec 2010

Do I suffer from this??

Hello, I'm 19 years old and feel I have been suffering from this problem for many years of my life... Ever since I could remember I've been "picking" the earliest I can remember was about maybe 3rd grade?? I started picking at the skin around my fingers with just my teeth then moved onto a pair of sewing scissors... I now just use tweezers around my fingernails and toenails. I pick the skin off and eat it...I also pick at the blackheads on my face with the tweezers or use a bobby pin. Weird I know! Every time I get up to go to the bathroom I look in the mirror just to see if a new one has formed so I can pick at it.... A more recent symptom I've noticed started about 3 to 4 years ago. I chew on my tongue for hours a day and pick and pick til it bleeds and often have to remove myself from the room out of fear of people seeing my tongue covered in blood. I go to the bathroom until the bleeding stops then act like it never happened.This is simply something I CANNOT stop. I try day after day to stop and keep telling myself how disgusting it really is but I can't stop. My tongue is almost always soar and I can't eat on certain areas of it.I try with everything I have but I always return to this nasty habit. I also chew on my lips pretty much all day. They're always sore and red. This is another thing I've been doing my whole life. I pick at my genital area sometimes but only if there is an ingrown hair because I enjoy peeling the skin off of it then picking the hair out with my tweezers.Another thing... My scalp. I LOVE picking at the scabs on my head or dry skin.I don't know what it is but I often avoid showers because I just want to pick and if I take one they're "washed away." As I sit here reading this I realized I've been chewing at my lips the entire time :( I have a certain spot in my room where I put my tweezers to make sure they're there when I need them! I'm not completely sure if all these habits pertain to this disorder but I need to know.
1 Answer
applegirl
December 19, 2010
based on that, id say you do, though ive never heard of the tongue thing, all the other things seem to fit. especially the unconscious stuff. i pick unconsciously, but in the last day ive been paying attention and trying to stop myself. if you want to stop, start by just noticing when you do it and STOP. its really hard. really, really hard. but we can do it! i dont know how to help w/ the tongue chewing thing, but its along the same lines. just start showering and stop picking your scalp, baby steps!

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