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doodlebug , 11 Oct 2011

Face Picking for Over a Decade

I am famous among my family and friends for being an absolute control freak, and yet I CANNOT control my face picking!! I've been doing it for over ten years, and my sister pointed out to me that it was an actual disorder around six years ago, but I still haven't managed to quit. I keep telling myself that I'll take the appropriate steps and put notes to myself on mirrors that I frequently use to pick, wear gloves around the house and in the car diligently, etc., but then I always tell myself that I really will stop picking, of course I always say I'll start the next day and it gets moved to the next day and so on. I have a supportive husband and family who know about my addiction, but I feel that in the end I have to be the one to put up the notes, wear the gloves, and do whatever else it takes to stop, and if I hate what I'm doing to myself and cry about the fact that I have to make up excuses why I can't go see friends because I'm embarrassed of my face, then why haven't I done something more to stop? Why can't I stop? I feel like the issue is always wanting a bump(even if it's invisible to everyone else) to be smooth, and then I pick it until it's a horrible wound on my face and regret it. What are the steps people actually take to quit? Is there any step by step guidelines that can be followed? I'm so sick of not being in control of this face picking! I read on a different post that taking daily pics helps, so maybe I'll try that. I should do that, wear gloves, write notes and tape them to my mirrors telling me how bad I'll feel after I pick, AND (my brother-in-law who is a neurologist told me to do this next one) sit in front of the mirror WHILE SUPERVISED and feel over all the bumps I want to pick and NOT pick them. It's time I start taking action to stop doing this. Has anyone had any success using any of these methods? Does anyone want to try to stop with me? I know my family is supportive, but it would be nice to do this with someone who really knows how hard it is. We can support each other!

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