New to the ZT club

[iridescence]

Hi. I’m new here. A little background: I’ve been in and out of this message board for a few months now, but have never posted. I’ve been too afraid to admit to myself that maybe I couldn’t do this alone. I am 26 years old, thin, attractive, and basically a confident person. I always picked my scabs as a child, but it was never really a problem until college. I pick my face. I’ve got mild to moderate acne, mostly just blackheads, but it is aggravated by my picking problem. I, too, often go into a trancelike state while picking, and can’t stop despite mentally chewing myself out. It has gotten worse over the past year, as my husband is in the military and has been overseas for a year now. So much of what I’ve read here is so painfully familiar. I finally went to a dermatologist (a move I stubbornly refused to make until now) the day after Christmas. I’ve noticed a little bit of improvement in my skin (on two topical prescriptions), but still can’t stop picking. I’ve had the most success (four days of absolutely no picking) with the ZT method, so that’s what I’m going to stick to, though I fell back into my old habits over the last three days. I’m shooting for five days starting right now. Any helpful suggestions will be appreciated.

[Marie]

welcome!
couple of things which may help you, even if they are a bit hard to keep to, are :

- - to not look close up in a mirror! Hide all your small mirrors, cover up big ones and just try and stay away cos the closer you are to one then the more damage you can see you've done, and probably the more damage you will do!

- - to apply only 1 or 2 treatments and leave them on so they take effect. If you do this then your skin will have more time to heal.

- - look at some of the other posts about stuff like balloons on your fingers etc - these tips might help you too!

good luck, keep with the ZT! Just wish i could follow my own advice! xxTEXT

[iridescence]

Thank you! I was thinking about buying some surgical gloves and just being extra nice to my hands for awhile (lotion, lotion, lotion!) so that's probably similar to the balloon method. I'll let you know how things go.

[Marie]

great! hope things go your way!
Iv not been picking at my skin for days and today the scab came off - sounds horrible but now theres actually proper healed skin where the sore was! Its a bit pinky but makeup makes it look a bit better. Also the cream I was talking about is cocoa butter, i got it in a big tub and it has been a lifesaver! It really hydrates your skin and aids the healing process, its also supposed to real good for raising scars and helping them disappear (ppl use it for stretch marks and the like for this reason!)

so good luck, post again! x

[iridescence]

Thank you.. I've noticed that when I've got a lot on my mind - be it good or bad - I tend to zone out more and that's when I mess up. This hasn't been the best week, but my face isn't in horrible shape. I have that, right? I'm going on a bit of a vacation, but I'll update when things settle down.. Wish me luck!

[misha]

hi everyone,
you may have noticed that i'm new.
i look forward to logging on often, because it is comforting knowing that there is a mutual connection between the pickers! can someone PLEASE inform me; what is ZT? thanks, mish

[Secret]

Misha, ZT is no picking what so ever. The support board is to lend support to people who are having a tough time, and a place where you can go when you're having a tough time. The ZT board is a zone of pick free people. Zero Tolerance for picking. With ZT we basically urge eachother to continue with our progress.

[peculiarpetunia]

Hello,

I am new here, too. As everyone says, it really is stunning to see how everyone here has an experience almost identical to mine. The trance-like state-- yes!

OK, so ZT means stopping cold, right? WHat do the letters stand for.