CSP = OCD = you need prof. help

[yikes]

CSP is a form of OCD. OCD indicates a lack of serotonin in the brain. A BIG lack...not the kind that potatoes cure. We can be predisposed to OCD by our genes and by early life experiences. OCD is a disease. I think it is best to see yourself as having an illness in which you need help to recover. You cannot beat this on your own is my belief. All the salt baths and ointments in the world are only more "bandaids." You gotta deal with the root cause or it will never stop. Actually, unaddressed OCD gets worse.

Get help: See a behavior therapist or a psychiatrist. There is no shame in getting help when you need it...the shame is in NOT getting help. High-dose antidepressants can have quite an affect on this problem, as can therapy. And this website is a blessing in healing the isolation and shame that comes with this affliction so keep coming here. If you are hiding and secretive you are making it worse. Life is about facing up to the problems that come our way. Be courageous and deal with it. Sorry to preach but I have personally learned the lesson I repeat here. I tried for years to deal with this on my own. It is only getting better since I faced it and named it and even told my friends and family about it.

[Stef (Incubabe)]

Here's what I think. No professional knows what I'm going through, unless he or she has CSP. No professional can tell me anything I don't already know. Plus, I won't take medicine for an obsession. I would rather be in my own state of mind with CSP than medicated without CSP.

I'd much rather struggle through this and be a stronger person than be dependent on drugs or therapy.

[yikes]

Well it certainly is a personal choice and you sound like you know yourself well and we all gotta follow our own heart and mind. In my case, I found that the professional knew more than I did about what I was going through because I had twisted my thinking to explain to myself what I was ashamed of, but then I suffer from life-long depression. OCD is not a healthy state of mind. Lack of serotonin causes depressed thinking and OCD. I have so much more power and ability since I corrected my serotonin imbalance and I'm much happier. Also, I feel stronger having faced this and come out of hiding, and now that I'm finally succeeding at recovering, I feel stronger. So I guess we just have a different view on this. I wrote what I wrote because it seems some people on this board were more interested in how to improve their skin than in counquering this compulsion. What will improve the skin more than anything is to stop picking and then the ointments etc. will not be needed.

[bleh]

My CSP was once so bad that it was almost obscene. At that point, I really didn't have an outside perspective of what I was doing. I was just depressed and anxious and my reaction to it was to purge my skin. If I got out of that and my skin is actually clear for the first time, I honestly believe that everyone can do it themselves.

I got better because I've been having a break from routine. I'm out of the country for a year, doing the things that I like. So now, I'm fully aware of what triggers me to abuse my skin.

I seriously think that everyone just needs a rest and take some time to put their priorities back into place. People need to have balance in their lives.

[Guest]

Here's my two cents...though you may have heard this before. If you were diagnosed with diabetes for example, there is no shame in taking insulin and getting the medical help you need to remain healthy. There should be no shame in taking medicine or getting therapy for conditions that some people say are just "in your mind"

I've been taking a low dose of Zoloft for less than a year to help with anxiety, mild depression and skin picking. I do not "feel medicated", I do not feel dependent on anything, I feel that I made a good choice for my health.

I do believe that everyone has to make these decisions for themselves, but I also encourage everyone to get the help they may need because it has made a tremendous difference in my life. I feel as if I'm really living now.

Good Luck.

[moon]

I learned through intense therapy that CSP is actually an Impulse Control Disorder. Many different things can cause this impulse disorder. Anti-depressants usually don't help (they didn't with me anyway, and I tried them all). But the anti-psychotic drug called Seroquel worked for me. I know that "anti-psychotic" word is kinda scary sounding, but that is what the drug is. They give it to people who are schizophrenic and also to ppl who pull their hair out. My doctor begged me to try it because I had sworn off any drugs after trying so many. I tried it and saw results in just a couple of weeks. I am upto 325mgs a day. You will start out at 25mgs and work your way up until you find the right dose (can go upto 600 - 800mgs). I have had zero side effects other than sleepiness, which I welcome at night because I use to be a night picker. Good luck to all of you!

moon

[yikes]

My pdoc mentioned the possibility of an antipsychotic. I know pdocs are adding those to a lot of non-psychotic folks' cocktail these days and it doesn't mean you are psychotic. I think it is fantastic that that helped you and that possibility is still out there for me, but I may not need it, because I am achieving sucess through behavioral methods + Zoloft...having the first control I've ever had. I have actually now lowered my Zoloft and am still doing ok. My skin is healing. I am 55 and pre-diabetic and find my skin heals very slowly compared to how it healed when I was young (word to the wise...you young folk out there...beat this when you are young..older skin heals not as fast or well). But thank god, I'm beating this. My arms and scalp are now lesion-free! Legs are healing! I think therapy and "coming out" here on the board and in therapy has helped a good deal too...takes away the shame that makes things worse.

The most important thing I want to say is: we are all individuals. Our make-up, reasons for doing this, etc. may be different. For some behavioral methods will work, for some OCD drugs, for some antipsychotic drugs, for some 12-step. For instance, I don't have the face-picking thing that others here have...for me it is the rest of the bod. Also, I have lifelong unipolar depression.

I take back my pronouncement that CSP=OCD= you need prof. help. I think why I wrote that is I saw people here who are lurking or sort of still in denial about taking action. I can now see that many ways work for many people. The main thing is to get out of denial/passivity and work on the problem and don't kid yourself if you're not getting anywhere. If you're not getting anywhere, get help.

And I do agree that CSP is an impulse control disorder, but I think OCD fits the bill too. Some people see it as SI too.