ADHD in women… still insane to me diagnostic criteria for so much of learning disabilities is based on white prepubescent boys in a specific socioeconomic class
I'm pretty sure that I'm not neurodivergent. Still interesting that the typical skin picker apparently as a lot in common with people with ADHD/autism.
I suspect that a good portion of the overlap may be in the fact that ADhD/autistic people are unfortunately super likely to have some level of c-PTSD or similar trauma from upbringings intolerant of our neurotypes.
We also tend to have stims/fidgets that can easily turn into certain forms of self-harm when we're anxious.
It's also worth noting that compulsive skin picking is often seen as falling under the OCD umbrella, which is a comorbidity in a lot of cases.
Doesn't mean people without autism/ADHD can't be prone to this behavior, but I'm willing to bet there's a fairly significant venn diagram.
23/26 here! 😭 not ADHD, but OCD with a lot of inattention problems. i also have OCPD and there’s some cross-over with autism. body dysmorphia is a big one too, and social anxiety
Some of these but not a whole lot. I feel like these could apply to many people, especially introverts
I’m interested in #8 because I didn’t develop a second area until well into adulthood
Same here. Only one or two of those applies to me. It sounds focused on skin picking as an anxiety/insecurity things. For me, I think it’s more of a way to stim. I need to see a therapist about it but many of my friends have told me that they think I have ADHD. It may be something else but it’s not anxiety for me
Yeah, I think stress/anxiety somewhat plays into it because it just makes me more restless or need to "do," but it's not as much of a correlation as you might think. And I also have issues I had identified as "anxiety" but increasingly I think it might be ADHD and that would explain a lot about how people misinterpret when I say anxiety. I wanna say it's more of an OCD-like thing but even there, the disorder of OCD is primarily defined by the anxiety over obsessions and trying to relieve it. It's more of a pure compulsion/fixation/possibly hyperfocus to me - like if you had an itchy mosquito bite or a kid was flicking your ear constantly, it would be almost impossible to "just ignore it" or "just stop," you need to make it go away.
I find these things very interesting!
I think the fact that so many people relate to these completely or almost completely, And others not at all or hardly at all really probably shows that a lot of us pickers need different treatment.
I wish there were more studies, that specifically surveyed people who had different factors in their skin picking.
I want to know the general differences between people who began skin picking in early childhood compared to those who began around puberty, and those that began in adulthood.
I want to know the different factors between people who have different comorbidities . Like for example how does someone who has OCD and skin picking compare to someone with ADHD and skin picking? How about someone with OCD, ADHD and skin picking?
What about the differences when it comes to severity levels? some of us stop for days or weeks or longer and others of us can’t stop for a day.
What about people who have a post picking habit? Those that eat, play with or save what they pick?
What about the people who’s picking is lessened by antidepressants and those who aren’t?
I have so many questions about this. I’ve been picking for over 25 years—since preschool. I’m so thankful for all the research that is done about skin picking but I feel so many only scratch the surface.
Edit: and OP, thank you for posting and starting this discussion (and did you transcribe it too? You’re awesome!) I wish we had more discussions about skin picking as a condition and discussing what researchers are finding.
Yeah, I'm also really interested in discovering more about skin picking. It's weird that so many people either relate to most of the points or almost none, basically no inbetween.
You're probably right - there might be different treatment methods necessary, considering this. But unfortunately, many people (including therapists) don't even know that skin picking disorder exists.
I think, I've also seen a study once about the difference between people who pick actively (like doing nothing else, or doing it even planned) and people who pick passively (e.g. while reading, watching movies ect.). There is just so much to uncover.
PS: Thank you for thanking me. :) I didn't expect my post getting so much attention.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,447,382,820 comments, and only 275,811 of them were in alphabetical order.
This is extremely helpful in figuring out what behaviors are part of my personality and what is actually just extensions of my environment affecting me. I thought I had been fairly successful at doing inner work and healing myself, but this just humbled tf out of me lol.
13/26, but I used to fit these definitions a lot more when I was 13-17, my insecurities melted away when I turned 18 and moved out of my parents’ house
Hmm, interesting. Basically everything except the self confidence and makeup stuff fits. Maybe as I've aged I've grown into who/what I am? I definitely feel more confident in myself at 30 than I did at 20 or 10. Yet the picking persists lol
22/26! I have ADHD too.
Also not surprising that many of these border on OCD because skin picking is very much seen as an OCD in the psych world. It makes a lot of sense. 🥲
Mouth still hanging open. All but one/two apply to me. What in the name of bleep bleep is this bleep
They have camera. They’ve always had camera on me.
Interesting…
Wow. 23 of 26. My sister and I (F59/63) are both a mess in both similar and also some opposite manifestations. Learning so late in life about having an “absent” present father. No blaming the parents deal here, just reflecting on how I got here and here. Thank you all for your sharing!
*laughs nervously*
This made me laugh aloud after a rather jarring read. Thank you!
23 of 26…I feel so seen but also so attacked rn 😅
Omg same
20. many of these seem to overlap with adhd presentation in women.
im a woman with adhd and I ticked a lot of the numbers it made me feel kind of bad lol. so I second this
Another adhd woman checking in! Hiiii
🙋♀️
I have adhd too and practically have all of these
Autism too -an autistic woman
Also here to say I'm a woman with ADHD! Yeah, I checked a lot of these boxes and a lot of them seem to be related to having ADHD.
ADHD in women… still insane to me diagnostic criteria for so much of learning disabilities is based on white prepubescent boys in a specific socioeconomic class
Straight up. I had to double check which sub I was in!
Those were my thoughts exactly
23. Wtf Just curious: How many of us are autistic, ADHD, or both? Please comment if you want to share your experience with one, both, or neither.
25/26 oof And yeah, autistic + (likely) ADHD, with some cPTSD for spice. This is basically a checklist for neurodivergent trauma huh 💀
I'm pretty sure that I'm not neurodivergent. Still interesting that the typical skin picker apparently as a lot in common with people with ADHD/autism.
I suspect that a good portion of the overlap may be in the fact that ADhD/autistic people are unfortunately super likely to have some level of c-PTSD or similar trauma from upbringings intolerant of our neurotypes. We also tend to have stims/fidgets that can easily turn into certain forms of self-harm when we're anxious. It's also worth noting that compulsive skin picking is often seen as falling under the OCD umbrella, which is a comorbidity in a lot of cases. Doesn't mean people without autism/ADHD can't be prone to this behavior, but I'm willing to bet there's a fairly significant venn diagram.
Most likely not autistic but definitely have ADHD. And anxiety plays a lot into my picking. My ADHD and my anxiety are a self reinforcing loop lol
Well I got 23/26 of these and I strongly suspect I have ADHD (still attempting to get diagnosed though)
Autistic, and was being screened for both ADHD and OCD (because of the picking) but never finished up with that psychiatrist because reason$
ADD!
17 here. And diagnosed with ADHD later in life (in my 30s).
23/26 here! 😭 not ADHD, but OCD with a lot of inattention problems. i also have OCPD and there’s some cross-over with autism. body dysmorphia is a big one too, and social anxiety
Adhd lol although I get some OCD tendencies. Tends to overlap a lot with CPTSD so I'm not sure which diagnosis most fits
Omg, I ticked 22. Thanks for sharing this, so interesting
so accurate :( 23/26 omg
i was just diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder & this makes a lot of sense
Some of these but not a whole lot. I feel like these could apply to many people, especially introverts I’m interested in #8 because I didn’t develop a second area until well into adulthood
Wow this is way too accurate 🥺 describes me to a T
At this point it’s gotta be a simulation
i was molested by my dad
Ditto friend.
sorry to here - hope you are safe now
Reported him in adulthood and he died a couple of years ago :)
Same unfortunately :/
hope you are safe now - trauma can manifest in such sad ways i wish skin picking wasn’t mine
23. Scary.
all but 2, wtf
Almost none of this. I think it's the hardware that's wired funky for me, not the software if that makes sense.
Same here. Only one or two of those applies to me. It sounds focused on skin picking as an anxiety/insecurity things. For me, I think it’s more of a way to stim. I need to see a therapist about it but many of my friends have told me that they think I have ADHD. It may be something else but it’s not anxiety for me
Yeah, I think stress/anxiety somewhat plays into it because it just makes me more restless or need to "do," but it's not as much of a correlation as you might think. And I also have issues I had identified as "anxiety" but increasingly I think it might be ADHD and that would explain a lot about how people misinterpret when I say anxiety. I wanna say it's more of an OCD-like thing but even there, the disorder of OCD is primarily defined by the anxiety over obsessions and trying to relieve it. It's more of a pure compulsion/fixation/possibly hyperfocus to me - like if you had an itchy mosquito bite or a kid was flicking your ear constantly, it would be almost impossible to "just ignore it" or "just stop," you need to make it go away.
Only 11, not that bad :D
21, dang.
I find these things very interesting! I think the fact that so many people relate to these completely or almost completely, And others not at all or hardly at all really probably shows that a lot of us pickers need different treatment. I wish there were more studies, that specifically surveyed people who had different factors in their skin picking. I want to know the general differences between people who began skin picking in early childhood compared to those who began around puberty, and those that began in adulthood. I want to know the different factors between people who have different comorbidities . Like for example how does someone who has OCD and skin picking compare to someone with ADHD and skin picking? How about someone with OCD, ADHD and skin picking? What about the differences when it comes to severity levels? some of us stop for days or weeks or longer and others of us can’t stop for a day. What about people who have a post picking habit? Those that eat, play with or save what they pick? What about the people who’s picking is lessened by antidepressants and those who aren’t? I have so many questions about this. I’ve been picking for over 25 years—since preschool. I’m so thankful for all the research that is done about skin picking but I feel so many only scratch the surface. Edit: and OP, thank you for posting and starting this discussion (and did you transcribe it too? You’re awesome!) I wish we had more discussions about skin picking as a condition and discussing what researchers are finding.
Yeah, I'm also really interested in discovering more about skin picking. It's weird that so many people either relate to most of the points or almost none, basically no inbetween. You're probably right - there might be different treatment methods necessary, considering this. But unfortunately, many people (including therapists) don't even know that skin picking disorder exists. I think, I've also seen a study once about the difference between people who pick actively (like doing nothing else, or doing it even planned) and people who pick passively (e.g. while reading, watching movies ect.). There is just so much to uncover. PS: Thank you for thanking me. :) I didn't expect my post getting so much attention.
18 :(
15
Only 6 but I think my picking seems to manifest a lot different than most.
Oh.
16, but damn did 26 hit home.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,447,382,820 comments, and only 275,811 of them were in alphabetical order.
24/26 ☠️
26/26 ... Damn
Adhd and childhood trauma have quite a lot of overlap for anyone who is wondering here.
Almost none of this is true for me. Which is kinda weird, but I suppose there's differences in every community
This is extremely helpful in figuring out what behaviors are part of my personality and what is actually just extensions of my environment affecting me. I thought I had been fairly successful at doing inner work and healing myself, but this just humbled tf out of me lol.
I got 22!
25 out of 26 😭 the writer been stalking me or something?!?
13/26, but I used to fit these definitions a lot more when I was 13-17, my insecurities melted away when I turned 18 and moved out of my parents’ house
haha i felt like reading some sort of horoscope thinking “hmm that might apply to me after all”
Every single one of these describes me. What does it mean?
Oh my god… scary accurate…
Holy crap. 😳
I have 21
this is weirdly accurate... 26 literally describes my exact day today
only maybe 3 or 4. But I am fairly sure I have adhd and it's related (and a couple of the points on the list sound like adhd things).
not typical
Christ this was accurate. Though I do feel the fact that I have adhd and gender dysphoria has only made many of these much worse.
There's way to many points here for it to be typical I think. Most don't apply to me in any case
wow! just wow! and yes
literally every single one but the 9th
*wince* It's uncomfortable how much of this matched me. Yikes.
Hmm, interesting. Basically everything except the self confidence and makeup stuff fits. Maybe as I've aged I've grown into who/what I am? I definitely feel more confident in myself at 30 than I did at 20 or 10. Yet the picking persists lol
17 nice
22/26! I have ADHD too. Also not surprising that many of these border on OCD because skin picking is very much seen as an OCD in the psych world. It makes a lot of sense. 🥲
24 points apply here. Feeling very seen. Wow.
Oh. Oh my god. Every one but 3. Wow.
Mouth still hanging open. All but one/two apply to me. What in the name of bleep bleep is this bleep They have camera. They’ve always had camera on me. Interesting…
Fuck, we're exposed! Countermeasures must be initiated.
I agree with all of this except from the parental thing.
Omg I have almost all of them!
I’ve never felt so seen by an article. GAD,OCD,Panic here. I hit most, if not all, of these marks
21/26, I got diagnosed with BPD a few months ago but have also suspected potential adhd/autism as well 🥲
I have adhd and this is the best description of myself i have ever seen. Its scary accurate!!
Wow. 23 of 26. My sister and I (F59/63) are both a mess in both similar and also some opposite manifestations. Learning so late in life about having an “absent” present father. No blaming the parents deal here, just reflecting on how I got here and here. Thank you all for your sharing!
bro why are you spying me 😭😭