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Shoulders, back, arms... Is this BDD?
Goodness, so I'm trying to figure myself out. I'm 22, just figured out I have this because my younger suggested it was a real problem after seeing something on TV about picking hair, he said it reminded him of me with my skin. So I found out it really exists whoohoo. I've been dealing with this compulsion for about 10 years now. I have oily skin and I particularly reopen scabs on my back, shoulders, and arms... Mostly my back though. As far as my shoulders go, I will just about break my neck to get blackheads out. I'm really oily as is and i feel like it's going to make things look better eventhough it just inflames the pores and causes zits to form. Is this BDD? I was reading about that and I feel like people arent supposed to have clogged pores in their upper arm/shoulders/back so I try to get rid of it and it makes it worse. I'm just confused because it's not like I'm hallucinating the blackheads and such, so I'm not creating a problem in my head. I just pick it like its going to help and it's just a vicious cycle. Can anyone relate?
June 10, 2009
I"m oily too AND I do Mary Kay, so you can imagine how much fun THAT is...grin. I recognize that it is self-sabotage and a self-esteem issue as I am doing mary kay full time now and one of the significant obstacles to my pursuing it at my usual breakneck pace is that I'll find myself by the middle of the day a train wreck. I do it primarily when I do not have a schedule to follow and when I'm procrastinating. ANd while I do go after my upper arms, back and shoulders, the primary target of my demon digit dance is my face. =)
I DO put on cotton gloves as of a few weeks ago and this has been helpful. I am looking forward however to creating some new habits to offset this one, as well as being a little more aggressive in affirming that I've got too much going for me to let nimble fingers be such a nuisance.
I am in my late 40s, have oily skin and was not prone to acne until I started getting very stressed.
And yes, after studying this and journaling, for me at least it involves a LOT of perfectionism, something I'm in the process of overcoming since it is no dadgum fun. =)