[university girl]

Anyone pick their skin beyond a 'normal' amount? Do you know why you do it? Have you been told anything about it?

I've been picking my fingers, face and lips for years now and I hate it. I seem to do it when I am idle, like when I'm reading or watching TV. I wouldn't say it is an anxious habit but I would like to hear others' opinions...

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I bite my fingernails way too often. I scratch my ass and balls more than is necessary though. After I succesfully quit smoking, i'll quit biting my nails. Gay new years resolutions...they never work....i suck.

 

[enngirl5]

Yeah unigirl, I do it. It's one of my things lately that I'm trying to quit. I also pluck my eyebrows compulsively. Have since I was like 13. I stopped doing that about a year or so ago but still obsess over how they look. I still pluck but not as compulsively. The picking my skin thing I'm working on now. I have a mirror and like you said sit in front of the tv and do it. Now I just chain smoke and drink cokes when I watch tv. One unhealthy habit for another. But it really is important to try to quit picking at your skin. Try filing your nails or giving yourself facials or doing crosswords or something. The habit passes. I went through a phase as a teenager of cracking my knuckles but I made a conscious decision to stop and never really have since then. When I'm nervous I still do it though... sigh. :roll: lol, take care uni.

 

[g-funk]

Its all related to anxiety / ocd behaviour/ self harm. I found out about it, bizarrely, when my cat got run over and started pulling his fur out afterwards. The vet explained it was psychological, called trichollotamania or something. Humans do it too with hair, eyebrows and skin (dermatillomania).

I crack my knuckles and chew the inside of my mouth which I just read in this link is all connected

http://www.childadvocate.net/Skin-picki ... havior.htm

 

[Guest]

i crack my wrist bones, and i used to pick my skin when i was 12 but i stopped, it was hard but i did, i think i tied my hands behind my back with a belt

 

[dreamcatcher]

i click my jaw constantly......i think its a way of us all trying to find some sort of release from the anxiety :?

 

[Guest]

my nephew picks his skin compulsively-- there's a term for it: Dermatilomania or Neurotic Excoriation.

Try Noxema, vinegar, or Cortisone cream (1%).

 

[university girl]

G-Funk... got this from that website you referenced:

56% - 65% of skin picking patient suffer from an anxiety disorder

Says SSRIs can help... paxil hasn't helped my skin picking. Grrrrrr.

 

[falling_free]

I don't pick my skin I pick my nails and also fiddle with things way too much, like I can rememebr when i was younger all I used to do was fiddle and make patterns with my hands instead of listen to people, absored in my own little world, now im trapped in that little world.

 

[Guest]

did you really have to make this post?

 

[falling_free]

whats wrong about talkign about picking nails or skin?, might as well post something

 

[university girl]

SB, if you're speaking to me, yes, I did have to make this post. I did it because I am sick of this so-called habit of mine. I am scarring my face. I wanted to know why I do it (theories) and how to stop.

 

[hangingon77]

yeah when i was elementary school i picked sores all over my face....eventually i stopped doing that and picked up picking at my nose...not PICKING my nose....but rubbing my nose and picking at the outside of it until there was a sore on the end or on the nostrils...i actually still do this but not nearly as much as i used to....it IS some kind of outlet. The nose thing has to do with the scent on my fingers....i'm constantly smelling them while im doing it.

 

[Guest]

I kinda fiddle with my hair, stupidly twiddle with it, bite my nails occassionally...i hate doin it but i can't kinda stop it.... :S

 

[Guest]

did you really have to make this post?

skin picking is definitely anxiety related-- there might be a tendency to dry skin that makes one more predisposed to it but this is something within the OCD/ anxiety spectrum. I think it is relevant, but I can see how some might find it kinda yucky.