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Nothing traumatic caused my skin picking
I want to preface this post by saying that my heart goes out to all of you that can site traumatic events as the cause of your skin picking. I've read many posts about people having difficult childhoods and abusive relationships that lead them to pick their skin. However, I just can't relate. I've been a "picker" for as long as I can remember and as far as I know, nothing caused me to be this way. I grew up in a very happy household with loving parents and lots of friends. I was totally "normal" except for the fact that I always picked my scabs and pulled out my eyelashes and strands of hair. I didn't know why I liked doing those things and didn't understand why I couldn't stop. I don't recall picking much or pulling hair from the ages of 10-12 but it started back up when I got teenage acne. My skin wasn't even that bad. I would just become totally transfixed on any spots and pick for hours. I'm 25 now and at this point skin picking is so deeply engrained in my day to day life and thoughts. It sometimes feels like another being that I always have to carry with me, weighing me down and plaguing my thoughts. Because I've dealt with it for so long, skin picking has become somewhat of a crutch - I pick when I'm sad, I pick when I'm stressed, I pick when I'm lonely, I pick when I'm tired, I pick when I'm bored, I pick when I'm excited... I feel like I never learned how to properly deal with heightened emotional states because when I felt ANYTHING, I just picked. How do you break free of something that is such a part of you?
October 18, 2012
I know 100% what you're talking about! It's has going on with me since I can remember too and it plaques me. I don't know why I can't stop thinking about it, don't know why I can't stop doing it , and I don't know why it has turned into such a big part of my life! I want to stop so freaking bad cause I know how bad it is and I know that picking is not going to solve anything! But for some freaking reason all of that flys right out the window when I see something on my face that just has to go. I am very glad tha to have found people who can relate 100% with what I'm going through but I saddens me that others are suffering with this! This sucks so freaking bad!!!
October 18, 2012
I can really relate to you. I feel like my skin is not a part of who I am, but at the same time it is a huge part of my life. There are so many times when I just stand in front of my mirror trying to get one tiny piece of skin off and I won't feel satisfied until I do.
I have a memory of when I was younger, and was in "time-out" in the corner. I was upset at myself for whatever I did, and started pulling handfuls of hair out of my head. When my mom saw me later sitting there with a big clump of hair in my hand, she freaked out and asked me why I did it. I told her it was because I was bad. I don't know if this may be related to whatever I have now, but it still is a memory that sticks with me because I don't know what to think of it. From what I know and remember I did not have any other incident similar until about 6 or 7 years later when I started picking my face and haven't been able to stop since.
October 18, 2012
I dont believe it has to come from a traumatic event, I could have from from a feeling you got when you were younger, I personally have picked at my scabs all over my body for as long as I can remember, but its never been obsessively, If I got a scab I would pick it, but only on recent years after a bad relationship and I been picking at blemishes. It could have been cause by a feeling you go from picking at a scab, a form of relief. you may no even know when that feeling came about, but it started to give you relief and you used it as a way to calm nerves or deal with things you dont know how to deal with. Stopping is hard, I did for about 6 months.. I have started picking at a few spots but it was nothing like I use to. Its something that takes alot of self discipline and re-training your brain. It is possible tho :)