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I DON'T know my trigger.
I actually have no idea what triggered mine. I remember doing it for ever. Maybe it was my parents divorce/father's death, or my innate perfectionism. (I remember crying on the fourth of July when I was probably six, because nothing was going how I had imagined it. It wasn't me being spoil. It was me actually frustrated.)
Does anyone else have no idea when they started or why?
April 04, 2009
well, picking is typically triggered by anxiety...as are all obsessive compulsive disorders... and is used for coping with this anxiety through the instant gratification it brings... unfortunatly this is temperary and usually causes more anxiety leading into a vicious cycle... we find comfort in it for whatever reason and that is why it is triggered by something uncomfortable... anxiety and related insecurity, depression, low self esteem, low confidence.... so your trigger would be something steming from that...
for me, aside from a little more than average mosquito and scab scratching, i started picking really bad (scanning for things to pick and creating my own cuts etc) the summer before i changed schools from the security of my elementary school to middle school where kids from all over my town would go... because of the timing when my picking escalated i can most likely be safe in saying it was the anxiety and insecurity i felt anticipating the next school year.... but this was only the trigger that pushed me into continuous problematic picking.. for you the first could have been your parents divorce... or fathers death... but after the first there are endless triggers... any stress that is difficult to cope with making you turn to the comfort of picking whether you are aware that is why you are doing it or not... having an awareness of those things that cause you anxiety and make you stressed and uncomfortable is important to recovery from dermatillomania... look and see when your picking is at its worst... after a stressful day at work? when you are bored and unsure of what to do with yourself? after you wash the day's makeup off and have to face that your skin is still damaged or theres a new break out? a fight? opening bills you have to pay? before or after a shower? just try and pay attention and take note of when your doing it and then think of why that might be... if you can become more aware of your picking habits you have a better chance of anticipating when youre likely to do it and finding a way around it... hope this helps..