Post by pookadot on May 3, 2005 16:08:23 GMT -5
Hey I have just joined this board I think it will be a good help for me to talk to people who i share the same kind of problem with, anyway heres a little about me...
Im a 17 year old female from England. I guess I have had or have been skin picking for 3 or more years now, I could deal with it at first because i wasn't picking that bad but in the last year it has become very serious. It caused me to drop out of high school in my last year of it, I have lost contact with all my friends because i am now homebound and they ask me to go out but i have to lie to them why i can't come out and it puts pressure on me and it's basically ruining my life at the moment it has been for the last year now. I have been homebound since August of last year because i am picking more badly and it's impossible to cover up the scabs without looking a right mess and if i feel a mess i have little self confidence. I have seen serveral psychiatrists which haven't really helped and didn't know about congenitive therapy until last year when a psychiatrist mentioned it to me. I am now seeing this lady who has a little knowledge of congenitive therapy once a week while i am waiting on the NHS health list for congenitive therapy which may take between 5-9 months which is quite a while but they might move me forward. As i thought this was quite long i payed to go private for congenitive help and saw this lady for about 6 weeks and she only sees people for about 8 weeks when they have shown inprovment but I didn't so i quite it as i was spending money on therapy that wasn't helping all she did was talk to me like normal phychiatrists do which helps a little but doesn't stop me from picking and she expected me to give up within 8 weeks and thought as i wasn't showing signs of improvment i couldn't have wanted to give up the picking but thats wheres shes wrong because i really really do or i wouldn't have came and seeked helped, i don't think she understood how difficult it is and uncontrollable it can be.Anyway the lady who i am seeing at the moment is better she doesn't rush me into giving up the picking she said it's bets to break down a piece at a time instead of the whole thing which sounded better with me.When i get asked where this started from people always think it's to do with something horrible that happened in childhood etc. but it wasn't for me like i tell them i had a normal upbringing. I think it's more to do with genetics as my dad used to be a complusive gambler and my mum always worrys about her looks like i do which affected her a bit in her teens. I take after my mum because we both worry about what people think of us and our looks and haven't got much self-confidence. I guess the first thing that started this was that i used to worry about my hair alot and had to get it perfect every morning for school and used to fiddle with it alot which people started noticing. Then near the start of high school it became my spots and also i used to over pluck my eyebrows because i wanted them perfect and every little hair out it wasn't associated with hair pulling just that everything had to be perfect on my face. Then I sometime had problems with my lips where i picked them alot because they were dry which caused them to bleed a little which was a little problem but didn't develop but my spot picking it even though the my hair having to be perfect was still a problem , my spot one was getting the biggest problem and as time went on I was picking more which took me ages to put on makeup in the morning covering them up causing me to be late for school and miss days of which developed into weeks causing me to have to leave me my last year of high school, which made me even worse with the picking because i thought as i was at home i didn't have to worry about covering up my wounds i made. Anyway the picking is now taking over my life i have no social life i missed last year of startign college which i hoped to do but couldnt and looks like i will miss this year of starting college again, i haven't had a job ever! and i want to learn to drive but i can't get out there and do all these things i want to , to feel independent and lead an ordinary life.My mum and dad are great surrport for me my mum has gotten me help and always there for me and they sort of understand my problem but think all i need to do is stop picking but it's not as easy as that as you know.As i get bored at being at home it causes me to pick more. I wouldnt say i get a erge to pick when im not looking in the mirror its usally when i look in the mirror and check how my scabs are healing up then i might see a spot and have to squeeze it to get all the yucky stuff out, i know thats disgusting but thats how my picking starts. Then after picking my face i get down and start to pick my arms which is like a stress releaver but makes me feel ever worse.If i feel low that day or bored and sitting still like in the bath or somethign and my arms are on show i start to pick at my arms i usally get more of a erge for them then my face because if i don't look at my face in the mirror i dont get the erge. And i have high and lows which i hate one day i may be feeling really good or happy because i think my wounds are healing up ok but then that night i might look in the mirror see a spot squeeze it which leads to me picking more which leads to me feeling really low which i hate. Somedays when i haven't picked i can still feel a little low and have no energy in me to feel like doing anything could this be some sort of depression? Im going to talk to the lady when i see this thursday and see about some sort of medication because thats the only thing that i haven't tryed yet and when im feeling better in myself im less likely to pick alot, has anyoen found medication worked for them, if so what kind? I guess i should end this now as iv'e been going on loads but even if no one reads this it's made me feel better just by getting it all of my chest because i hate this problem it's my worst enermy it's beating me nearly everyday and i can't stand it how it makes me feel so upset sometimes
. If anyone has read this then please leave some advice for me. Thanks
Im a 17 year old female from England. I guess I have had or have been skin picking for 3 or more years now, I could deal with it at first because i wasn't picking that bad but in the last year it has become very serious. It caused me to drop out of high school in my last year of it, I have lost contact with all my friends because i am now homebound and they ask me to go out but i have to lie to them why i can't come out and it puts pressure on me and it's basically ruining my life at the moment it has been for the last year now. I have been homebound since August of last year because i am picking more badly and it's impossible to cover up the scabs without looking a right mess and if i feel a mess i have little self confidence. I have seen serveral psychiatrists which haven't really helped and didn't know about congenitive therapy until last year when a psychiatrist mentioned it to me. I am now seeing this lady who has a little knowledge of congenitive therapy once a week while i am waiting on the NHS health list for congenitive therapy which may take between 5-9 months which is quite a while but they might move me forward. As i thought this was quite long i payed to go private for congenitive help and saw this lady for about 6 weeks and she only sees people for about 8 weeks when they have shown inprovment but I didn't so i quite it as i was spending money on therapy that wasn't helping all she did was talk to me like normal phychiatrists do which helps a little but doesn't stop me from picking and she expected me to give up within 8 weeks and thought as i wasn't showing signs of improvment i couldn't have wanted to give up the picking but thats wheres shes wrong because i really really do or i wouldn't have came and seeked helped, i don't think she understood how difficult it is and uncontrollable it can be.Anyway the lady who i am seeing at the moment is better she doesn't rush me into giving up the picking she said it's bets to break down a piece at a time instead of the whole thing which sounded better with me.When i get asked where this started from people always think it's to do with something horrible that happened in childhood etc. but it wasn't for me like i tell them i had a normal upbringing. I think it's more to do with genetics as my dad used to be a complusive gambler and my mum always worrys about her looks like i do which affected her a bit in her teens. I take after my mum because we both worry about what people think of us and our looks and haven't got much self-confidence. I guess the first thing that started this was that i used to worry about my hair alot and had to get it perfect every morning for school and used to fiddle with it alot which people started noticing. Then near the start of high school it became my spots and also i used to over pluck my eyebrows because i wanted them perfect and every little hair out it wasn't associated with hair pulling just that everything had to be perfect on my face. Then I sometime had problems with my lips where i picked them alot because they were dry which caused them to bleed a little which was a little problem but didn't develop but my spot picking it even though the my hair having to be perfect was still a problem , my spot one was getting the biggest problem and as time went on I was picking more which took me ages to put on makeup in the morning covering them up causing me to be late for school and miss days of which developed into weeks causing me to have to leave me my last year of high school, which made me even worse with the picking because i thought as i was at home i didn't have to worry about covering up my wounds i made. Anyway the picking is now taking over my life i have no social life i missed last year of startign college which i hoped to do but couldnt and looks like i will miss this year of starting college again, i haven't had a job ever! and i want to learn to drive but i can't get out there and do all these things i want to , to feel independent and lead an ordinary life.My mum and dad are great surrport for me my mum has gotten me help and always there for me and they sort of understand my problem but think all i need to do is stop picking but it's not as easy as that as you know.As i get bored at being at home it causes me to pick more. I wouldnt say i get a erge to pick when im not looking in the mirror its usally when i look in the mirror and check how my scabs are healing up then i might see a spot and have to squeeze it to get all the yucky stuff out, i know thats disgusting but thats how my picking starts. Then after picking my face i get down and start to pick my arms which is like a stress releaver but makes me feel ever worse.If i feel low that day or bored and sitting still like in the bath or somethign and my arms are on show i start to pick at my arms i usally get more of a erge for them then my face because if i don't look at my face in the mirror i dont get the erge. And i have high and lows which i hate one day i may be feeling really good or happy because i think my wounds are healing up ok but then that night i might look in the mirror see a spot squeeze it which leads to me picking more which leads to me feeling really low which i hate. Somedays when i haven't picked i can still feel a little low and have no energy in me to feel like doing anything could this be some sort of depression? Im going to talk to the lady when i see this thursday and see about some sort of medication because thats the only thing that i haven't tryed yet and when im feeling better in myself im less likely to pick alot, has anyoen found medication worked for them, if so what kind? I guess i should end this now as iv'e been going on loads but even if no one reads this it's made me feel better just by getting it all of my chest because i hate this problem it's my worst enermy it's beating me nearly everyday and i can't stand it how it makes me feel so upset sometimes
. If anyone has read this then please leave some advice for me. Thanks
I live in England too.