[Anonymous]

I think I have dermatillomania/compulsive skin picking. I didn't realise it was an actual condition until recently, although I've been picking for a few years. I wondered how many on here have heard of it, or if anyone else on here has it? I haven't actually been to my GP or anything. Has anyone here ever been to the doctor's and received treatment, how did they address it?

It's really getting me down.. I have scars all over my arms and chest, and I don't know why I do it. It's worse at the moment wearing long sleeves all the time in this hot weather. My friends think it's eczema and my family don't mention it. I've been stressed about school, which makes it worse, and have spoken to the teacher in charge of student welfare about feeling down but haven't mentioned the picking.

Does anyone know if schools class this as self harm? It would be such a relief to just talk it over with the teacher, but I know that my school's self harming policy is to ring parents. I don't know how they would deal with this, because it is self injury, just not in the normal sense. Has anyone had any experience with schools and how they deal with dermatillomania?
Thanks

[amime]

Not sure if it's the same thing but I used to pick and bite the skin around my nails, it's an incredibly hard to stop but I've managed for quite a while now without picking.

[jme18]

Hi OP, I also suffer with dermatillomania and understand exactly how distressing the irresistible urge to pick can be.
I have recently been to my GP about it and have been told that it is associated with anxiety which i have recently become aware of.

The original GP I was registered with said it was stress related, which may be true, however there was no help offered whatsoever, so i decided to swap doctors.
My current GP fully understands dermatillomania and i have another appointment soon to discuss how to tackle this disorder as well as anxiety disorder, and manage stress better.

Anyway, I have heard from others that i could be thought of as self-harm, however i would disagree - suffering from this impulse control disorder is not something i do whilst thinking, i just do it without thinking, and cannot help it. Despite there being a feeling of relief when i am 'picking', i feel it is different to self-harm. Although, maybe the school informing your parents of the problem could be a good thing? Getting help and support is a big step to tackling the problem!

Personally, i don't think schools would have any knowledge of the problem, however they may give you advice as to how to approach the problem, and guide you in getting help.

I hope you get the help you need/everything works out for you; as i have suffered from compulsive skin picking on my face for about 2 years now, i can fully relate to the distress it causes

[Anonymous]

(Original post by jme18)
Hi OP, I also suffer with dermatillomania and understand exactly how distressing the irresistible urge to pick can be.
I have recently been to my GP about it and have been told that it is associated with anxiety which i have recently become aware of.

The original GP I was registered with said it was stress related, which may be true, however there was no help offered whatsoever, so i decided to swap doctors.
My current GP fully understands dermatillomania and i have another appointment soon to discuss how to tackle this disorder as well as anxiety disorder, and manage stress better.

Anyway, I have heard from others that i could be thought of as self-harm, however i would disagree - suffering from this impulse control disorder is not something i do whilst thinking, i just do it without thinking, and cannot help it. Despite there being a feeling of relief when i am 'picking', i feel it is different to self-harm. Although, maybe the school informing your parents of the problem could be a good thing? Getting help and support is a big step to tackling the problem!

Personally, i don't think schools would have any knowledge of the problem, however they may give you advice as to how to approach the problem, and guide you in getting help.

I hope you get the help you need/everything works out for you; as i have suffered from compulsive skin picking on my face for about 2 years now, i can fully relate to the distress it causes

Hi, sorry it's taken me so long to reply, thanks so much for your reply
I've booked an appointment with my GP, I have no idea what they'll say but I haven't been picking since my exams finished so at least the wounds aren't open and maybe they can give me cream to reduce the scarring. I think all I really want is someone to talk to about it, so that I can start to tackle it properly. I'm so worried she'll try to refer me to a counsellor or mental health practice or something though, or try to put me on medication :/

Depending on the doctor's reaction I might still talk to my school about it, I'm still so scared about talking to my parents about it though. I have no idea what they think it is, but I doubt they realise how much I stress about it.

[kayleigh.jean]

(Original post by Anonymous)
I think all I really want is someone to talk to about it, so that I can start to tackle it properly. I'm so worried she'll try to refer me to a counsellor or mental health practice or something though, or try to put me on medication :/

Depending on the doctor's reaction I might still talk to my school about it, I'm still so scared about talking to my parents about it though. I have no idea what they think it is, but I doubt they realise how much I stress about it.

don't worry about being referred or put on medication; your GP will do what's best for you and will discuss it with you too. If you're not showing signs of depression then, in my experience anyway, they'd try to avoid medication unless other treatments don't work. CBT's quite a likely one to be offered and that would help you to start tackling the issue and understanding it better.
OCD Free on Tumblr often advises people to find resources about what they're experiencing if they're finding it difficult to talk to their parents and to use those to aid you in explaining how you feel and what you're going through.
Good luck with your appointment

[ClaraJayne]

I also have this!
I can't stop picking at my face. And also have anxiety. But my doctor refuses to give me anti depressants for it so it will only get worse.


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[dangsoo]

Hey
I also suffer from dermatillomania, and like you only found out it was an crisp condition maybe late last year.
I've picked my skin for around 7 years and I didn't realise I had a serious problem until I decided to stop.
Ive always had a sort of innate anxiety problem - I get really worried about small things and struggle to forget, so the picking kind of makes sense. I tried to stop on my own but it has been a long, hard battle with little results.
Last week I went to the doctors and told them I have a serious skin picking problem - ill pick my skin in a sort of trance like state, and then sit on the floor and cry. (I sound like such an attention seeker omg sorry)

the doctors said there was nothing she could do and top me the only way to stop the picking is to get rid of the spots with tablets. But surely if I pick them and don't let them heal they won't work?
in America they have whole departments in universities and big institutions dedicated to the research of skin picking. It's a recognised condition that has particular methods of treatment.
In the UK if you look it up on the NHS website there is nothing. It's just tagged on the end of OCD.
Does anyone here know of any places around London which specialise in the treatment of dermatillomania? I'm feeling a little lost here, and I've started obsessively biting my nails and he skin on my hands too now.
Id prefer not to start university next year with a face like the surface of the moon.
Thanks

[Polly1101]

You can self refer to your local IAPT/psychological wellbeing service. Like others have said, it is a form of anxiety disorder and can be treated through the use of CBT, as well as mindfullness.
I work in a similar service and have just treated somebody successfully with skin picking disorder.

[Anonymous]

I've always bitten my nails and the skin around them. I have been trying and failing to stop for years.

From about 13 I went through a face of obsessive eyebrow plucking for several years. It was ridiculous; I used to pluck my eyebrows too thin, then where I caused irritation there would be little swellings and spots, then I would pick at them causing sores. I basically replaced the lower part of my eyebrows with sores. It was a huge source of shame and misery.

Fortunately I managed to move on from the eyebrows thing, I keep them nice now - but unfortunately mainly because I began general face picking and touching. Funny I never really thought of it as the main problem (rather I just thought of it as the reaction to my real problem: simple acne), even though on looking back it clearly was (most sores/lesions on my face at any one time were/are there because I have opened them/ maintained them by picking).

Fairly recently I tried to stop biting my nails by putting on false nails. Initially this was successful - and suddenly it triggered me to realise was just how much I go to my nails, just automatically. Normally I guess I would have just nibbled them and thought nothing of it, but the presence of the false nails made me aware. I realised I was constantly aware of my fingers and nails, constantly drawn to touching and inspecting them. Then I sort of realised exactly the same thing was going on with my face.

So in a way that was good. But the downside was I developed a new obsessive habit. To get the false nails to fit better, I started pushing back the cuticles. This rapidly transformed into ruthlessly cutting, biting and peeling them. For a time this completely replaced my old habit of nail and skin biting. Then as I've tried really hard to get over the cuticle thing (with some success though I've not completely stopped it isn't too bad), nail biting has returned so I'm stuck with both. Weirdly the skin biting hasn't returned. I guess my taste for flesh has been satisfied by my cuticle destruction.

Now I am just sick of it. I desperately want to stop but I don't trust my efforts any more. Mild success with replacing one bad habit with another has recently led me to try obsessively washing and moisturising my hands as better alternative for biting/picking them. It has partially worked, but I don't feel any partial success is real success - if I don't completely stop I think I will go back to it.

I am making slow progress with my skin. One things which helps is that I don't cover it up (with make up) when I'm at home. This was a big step as I find my skin extremely embarassing uncovered. On the contrary, revealing my skin to friends and family has made me feel less ashamed (everyone including me just gets used to it), and less desperate to physically remove the problems (like spots, scabs) but trying to pick them away. I don't feel able to do the same thing at work because I just think it looks so unprofessional.

I would really like to find a mentor on TSR (perhaps in a skin picking society) because I want to stop, I think I need someone to help encourage me and make me feel good about it. One thing that puts me off trying to stop is it makes me feel even more guilty and ashamed, and then I seem to fail anyway. I'm just not sure how to change it all by myself.

I don't know if I could give advice to other people, as I've obviously been no good at stopping myself.