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RoseGoldGal , 28 Feb 2018

Skin picking linked to trypopphobia?

Hey, so I've realize that I get the urge to pick my skin because of this constant feeling of disgust that nasty scabs are on it and need to come off. The feeling makes me uneasy and I feel like am in a sense cleansing my skin when I pick scabs off. I also found that I have trypopphobia, the fear of holes and I get the same as anxious feelings when looking at pictures of it online as when i am imagining the scabs on my skin. Does anyone else have this fear and perhaps see a connection between it and skin picking? If you don't know if you have the fear or not Google trypopphobia and you'll know for sure.

5 Answers
serene
February 28, 2018

It's unpleasant to look at those pictures. Something about an abundance of little holes looks sickly. There is a disturbing aspect to it. But I don't know if I fear it... How exactly do you feel when looking at such photos?

serene
February 28, 2018

I must admit I have never been a fan of polka dot prints. For some reason they have always irritated me. Maybe it's a part of an all irritation to circular markings. The most disgusting thing I have ever seen was a mud dauber wasp nest. When the wasp grubs are born, they eventually make holes to get out of the tunnel shaped nests. Try to Google mud dauber wasp nest and see how sick those things look.

RoseGoldGal
February 28, 2018

Looking at trypopphobia pictures makes me feel anxious and disgusted. I feel like I need to get rid of the holes and nasty colors idk....the mud dauber nestsvwere more bearable to me. I linked the phobia to skin picking because my obsession with picking my skin stems from this I'll feeling I have about how I precieve the scabs to look. The scabs make me feel like my body is being invaded by something foreign that shouldn't be there and I get relief in picking them off cuz I'm in a sense "healing" my body of their disgusting components. If that makes any sense.

RoseGoldGal
February 28, 2018

Looking at trypopphobia pictures makes me feel anxious and disgusted. I feel like I need to get rid of the holes and nasty colors idk....the mud dauber nestsvwere more bearable to me. I linked the phobia to skin picking because my obsession with picking my skin stems from this I'll feeling I have about how I precieve the scabs to look. The scabs make me feel like my body is being invaded by something foreign that shouldn't be there and I get relief in picking them off cuz I'm in a sense "healing" my body of their disgusting components. If that makes any sense.

serene
March 01, 2018

Yes, I have had such phases. Those are my worst picking episodes. That sort of thinking and behaving causes obvious scarring. It is delusional thinking, and it causes this very concrete, extremely convincing belief that the scabs are dirty or unnecessary and therefore need to be extracted. I would say it's a more evolved, advanced form of skin picking behavior. There are many skin pickers who do not engage in this sort of behavior. They simply pick at the initial imperfections and then let the wound heal. I would recommend that you don't allow your wounds to dry out to the point of forming a scab. Keep them moist by covering them and cleaning in between but making sure to keep the wounds covered. That way your mind won't be so hung up on seeing the scab and how repulsive it is. Use hydrocolloid bandaids if you can. It trains your brain not to pick at scabs. It has greately helped me!

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