hey i’m not sure the title is accurate but i couldn’t think of anything better

basically i’ve been struggling with skin picking for my entire life

it started small

picking some overhangs and scans around my nails at 6

nothing too serious

as years went by it evolved into pretty severe skin picking, where i wasn’t able to go a day without making a lesion

and recently (like in the past year) the habit developed into full blown dermatilomania

i keep on picking to the point where my lesions can’t heal properly

the worst of it is i started picking skin on my heels to the point where i can’t walk properly anymore and when i do it causes me a lot of pain

it catches up to me in the evening when i’m bored

i’ve been advised to “occupy my hands with something” but what nobody seems to get is that it’s something i do absentmindedly i’m not sure what to do anymore

does anyone have similar experience or am i beyond help at this point ?

have a nice day

  • Scarronline@lemmy.world
    7·
    11 months ago

    Dip your finger I’m pvc glue, letcit dry, peel it off. Repeat.

    Or find an activity to distract. Don’t sit on the sofa and watch TV (if that’s where you pick), keep busy with other things.

  • lntl@lemmy.sdf.org
    6·
    11 months ago

    im an alcoholic. one day, after a long trip down a dark and broken road, i decided to stop.

    i used to drink in the evening when i was bored. nowadays, after dinner, in the evening, i take long walks. they’re typically 6 miles and last two hours.

    you’ll stop if you really want to. getting the help of a professional or support group helps lots of people. good luck

    • Damaskox@lemmy.world
      2·
      11 months ago

      Reminds me of one video. I recall his friends made a prank. The dude woke up from drinking too much in a hospital room where the nurse said that the had been comatose for many years.
      To be clear, this wasn’t the case - it was just a prank.

      …but I bet experiencing that would put some people to think.

  • laughingsquirrel@discuss.tchncs.de
    4·
    11 months ago

    I feel you… For me, it sometimes help, when I notice that I’m doing it, to grab some knitting/stitching project or to grab a Rubix’ Cube. But as others said, a specialist would be a good idea.

    When I saw your post I remembered a meme I saw on Lemmy, it’s kind of sad, but also makes me more aware of it…

  • Damaskox@lemmy.world
    2·
    11 months ago

    I love wasting spending lots of time on the computer.

    I’m friends with Beeminder.
    I started at one minute less per day. At the moment I get one day in the countdown when I’m off the machine for 165 minutes. I raise the value when I feel it - slowly and steadily.

  • donuts@kbin.social
    1·
    11 months ago

    You should try to talk to a doctor or psychiatrist about this habit, especially if it’s beginning to bother you and affect your life in other ways.

    As for things you can do right away, how about sticking bandaids on your sores, this will help them heal and it’ll also keep you away from the area. And don’t wait until it gets bad, but even put bandaids on prematurely if it’ll get you to stop compulsively messing with your skin.

    Another thing is to buy some basic skin care tools. As someone who has the habit of biting my nails, sometimes until they bleed or are painful, I know that biting them can lead to making them rough, which just leads to making me even more compelled to bite the rough bits. For me it can really become a cyclical problem that’s also likely driven by anxiety and depression. But by clipping and filling my nails with proper tools I can quickly break the cycle, because my nails will start to generally feel better. So maybe you can do something similar with your skin by exfoliating and using lotion! It’s worth a try!

    Finally I want to say that cannabis has been good for my personal type/level of anxiety, though I hesitate to recommend it because when though I don’t find it addictive I think it maybe isn’t great to recommend to someone who is experiencing addictive or compulsive behavior.

    In the end I think some combination of therapy, behavior pattern breaking and maybe drugs if necessary, might be able to help you get away from self-harming compulsive behavior. Good luck!

  • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
    03·
    11 months ago

    You break an addiction the same way you do literally anything else. Purpose in life, work ethic, and dedication to pursue your goals.

  • Kanda@reddthat.com
    04·
    11 months ago

    It may sound stupid, but stop doing it. And then don’t start doing it again.