Post by cherylchristine on May 30, 2006 10:29:29 GMT -5
Hi
I have been picking my skin since I was about 12 and I am now 28. I managed to stop when I was 13 until I was about 14 and my skin looked perfect. Then it all started again. I have good weeks when I don't pick so much or as severely and my skin looks okay, but I still have discoloration which depresses me. On bad weeks, I will pick constantly and spend many many hours in the bathroom. These weeks are awful and I avoid contact with the outside as much as possible.
Anyway, I have had enough of the marks, scars and sores and I am desperately trying to quit picking so that all I have to deal with is getting rid of the scars as much as possible. I intend to try Skin doctor's Gamma Hydroxy resurfacing cream.
But for now, I concentrating on quitting picking. I was feeling really depressed 3 days ago - not because of the skin picking as I wasn't doing it badly and my face was acceptable, it was something else. Anyhow, I started feeling really stressed and I found myself going to the bathroom and picking and squeezing, etc. This seemed to calm me down whilst I was doing it. However, you know how it is once you've done it, I felt even worse because my face was left a mess again.
I was at this point feeling terrible. So I decided I needed to find out about dealing with depression and stress. I did a lot of research on this subject and basically, my conclusion is that my skin picking is just a manifestation of stress. Therefore, in order to deal with the skin picking, I needed to eliminate stress. To treat the skin picking meant to treat depression and stress.
Omega 3 is meant to help, so I have ordered some of these. I will let you know how that goes. But for the moment, I have been able to stop myself from picking simply by not allowing myself to get stressed or upset. Of course, I do get stressed and upset (a lot, actually), but I am able to recognise the early symptoms of stress in myself - heart beats faster, feel a bit shaky. As soon as I feel myself getting this way, I calm myself by concentrating on my breathing, thinking of something positive and looking at what is bothering me in a rational way. Once I have done this, I do not have the urge to pick.
An example would be when I look in the mirror, I get depressed at the marks on my face. At the point that I feel myself starting to get stressed, I walk away, calm myself and once I am calm, I tell myself that I am doing a good thing and I think of the best ways to deal with the marks on my face - which would be to allow it to heal naturally, and while I am waiting for it to heal to use some concealer to heal the marks so that I don't feel so bad about them.
I also find that I pick when I am going to sleep, watching tv and reading. So I guess I also find it soothing. At these times, I have found myself going for my face as I have not figured out exactly what triggers it or how to prevent it, so the way I have dealt with this is by wearing gloves. I need to work on this.
So far I have picked very briefly (managed to stop immediately) only 3 times in 3 days. This is excellent for me since I must pick at least 15 times a day - whether it be at one thing or a severe picking session.
Basically, I am wondering what you all think to treating yourself for stress rather than for skin picking. I mean, concentrating on destressing - meditation, exercise, etc and seeing if that prevents the urge to pick?
I have been picking my skin since I was about 12 and I am now 28. I managed to stop when I was 13 until I was about 14 and my skin looked perfect. Then it all started again. I have good weeks when I don't pick so much or as severely and my skin looks okay, but I still have discoloration which depresses me. On bad weeks, I will pick constantly and spend many many hours in the bathroom. These weeks are awful and I avoid contact with the outside as much as possible.
Anyway, I have had enough of the marks, scars and sores and I am desperately trying to quit picking so that all I have to deal with is getting rid of the scars as much as possible. I intend to try Skin doctor's Gamma Hydroxy resurfacing cream.
But for now, I concentrating on quitting picking. I was feeling really depressed 3 days ago - not because of the skin picking as I wasn't doing it badly and my face was acceptable, it was something else. Anyhow, I started feeling really stressed and I found myself going to the bathroom and picking and squeezing, etc. This seemed to calm me down whilst I was doing it. However, you know how it is once you've done it, I felt even worse because my face was left a mess again.
I was at this point feeling terrible. So I decided I needed to find out about dealing with depression and stress. I did a lot of research on this subject and basically, my conclusion is that my skin picking is just a manifestation of stress. Therefore, in order to deal with the skin picking, I needed to eliminate stress. To treat the skin picking meant to treat depression and stress.
Omega 3 is meant to help, so I have ordered some of these. I will let you know how that goes. But for the moment, I have been able to stop myself from picking simply by not allowing myself to get stressed or upset. Of course, I do get stressed and upset (a lot, actually), but I am able to recognise the early symptoms of stress in myself - heart beats faster, feel a bit shaky. As soon as I feel myself getting this way, I calm myself by concentrating on my breathing, thinking of something positive and looking at what is bothering me in a rational way. Once I have done this, I do not have the urge to pick.
An example would be when I look in the mirror, I get depressed at the marks on my face. At the point that I feel myself starting to get stressed, I walk away, calm myself and once I am calm, I tell myself that I am doing a good thing and I think of the best ways to deal with the marks on my face - which would be to allow it to heal naturally, and while I am waiting for it to heal to use some concealer to heal the marks so that I don't feel so bad about them.
I also find that I pick when I am going to sleep, watching tv and reading. So I guess I also find it soothing. At these times, I have found myself going for my face as I have not figured out exactly what triggers it or how to prevent it, so the way I have dealt with this is by wearing gloves. I need to work on this.
So far I have picked very briefly (managed to stop immediately) only 3 times in 3 days. This is excellent for me since I must pick at least 15 times a day - whether it be at one thing or a severe picking session.
Basically, I am wondering what you all think to treating yourself for stress rather than for skin picking. I mean, concentrating on destressing - meditation, exercise, etc and seeing if that prevents the urge to pick?