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Keeping my hands busy
Well my psychologist and I have a new plan. I pick every bump, hair, anything all over my body and absolutely massacre my scalp. It is covered in scabs. Have been doing this my entire life and am now in my thirties.
The plan is;
1) Keeping my hands busy - I have a couple of sqeeuzy gooey stress balls - at work, at home, in the car, in my handbag. Keep playing with them and picking at them rather than picking at myself. I have to congratulate myself when I use them instead of picking and scratching. (and not judge myself when I do pick etc)
2) Look after my skin. Have a lovely scented exfoliant and gloves to work all over my body to get rid of dead skin cells, keep my skin fresh and minimise blemishes. Follow that off with a lovely moisturiser. Also have products for my face to try and stop the zits, lumps, flaky skin so there is less picking temptation
3) Mindfulness activities to help me deal with negative thoughts and feelings
4) Learning to relax - even though it makes me feel uncomfortable.
Wish me luck!!
September 02, 2009
Sounds like you have a plan! Great job! I found some great stuff for my face a couple of weeks ago and it's fantastic!! Neutrogena makes a great Stress-Free Acne Deep cream face wash and night cleansing pads.
I've been using these products for a couple of weeks on my face and it's cut down my acne and oily skin to almost nothing! It's great and my skin looks great!
During the day I use Oil of Olay daily moisturizer cream. I've been using that since high school and I wouldn't use anything else to this day except for that.
Keep up your great work! I've never heard of the stress ball method, but maybe I'll give that a shot!! :)
September 10, 2009
YES! This has helped me greatly. Aversion therepy. I found (as a finger picker/eater) that erasers are a big help. When I go to the movies I have to carry one with me to avoid removing all the skin from both hands. I wear a rubber band around my wrist and either pop myself or play with it to avoid the urge to pick. Koosh balls, stress balls, erasers, rubber bands and lotions have helped me. Yes, I still pick from time to time but not like the years past.......good luck! I hope everyone reads this.
September 23, 2009
I think your doctor is a genious! I'll try the same suggestion and it sounds like a GREAT idea!! Thanks for helping me! Take care and good luck! You go girl!
September 29, 2009
i have tried to keep my hands busy and thoughts busy but it seems if I pause for like 2 seconds I find my hands in my hair trying to dig into my scalp & pull somthing from somewhere...and then it moves to my ears if i cant find anything there....my mom (bless her heart)..tries to give me different books to look at because I love looking a pictures and colors...but it gives me something to look while I scratch....it's coming to the point of anxiety is building when I can't scratch because I think people are watching and when I do scratch..the anxiety is still there because I feel like the people watching are like "what is she doing?"...sigh...when will the cycle end????????????????????????????
November 14, 2009
some really great ideas there, i'm gonna give them a go! thanks for sharing. good luck :)
November 17, 2009
iv tried using the balls and it just doesnt work for me.