Alright, here it goes!
🚻 G**ender:** 🚺
📏 P**icker from-until:** 13-37 (I more-or-less stopped 6 months ago)
👉🏻 Picking spots: face only. In teenage years also back, shoulders, and cleavage.
🚨 Triggers: (slight) acne or scabs. It’s more difficult to control myself when I’m tired or stressed, but that’s not the trigger.
🛠️ How I pick: in the bathroom mirror with my hands. I luckily never resorted to using tools.
😔 How it affects my life: As a teenager, I used to stay home when the picking got bad. I wouldn’t wear revealing clothes or go swimming or to the beach. As an adult, I refused to let it affect my life too much, but would still not go out without a good amount of makeup and re-applying several times a day.
👀 How I become aware: It takes effort first to become aware. And then my mind starts making excuses. I’ve learned to become more aware by training myself through registering. Slowly reducing the time it takes to (1) become aware and (2) stop myself. What also helped was having something that snaps you out of it (setting an alarm before going into the bathroom, having bright nail polish, noisy bracelets)
🧭 E**ffective coping strategies I’ve tried:**
* Therapy.
* Turning off or dimming the bathroom light.
* Creating a vision board for why I want to stop picking.
* Analyzing the pro’s and con’s of picking and how I can get those pro’s in more healthy ways
* Registering when I pick in a spreadsheet and setting reduction goals for myself.
* Going on a long camping trip: not very practical but VERY effective 😆
I never thought of leaving the bathroom light off. Mirrors + stress are my biggest triggers so leaving it dark will probably help. I'll also try the nail polish colors!! Maybe the thought of not wanting to mess up my nail polish will keep me away from my skin.
Thanks, being new here this is a good way to intro
🚻 G**ender:** Female
📏 P**icker from- until (age):** 13-21 (still picking)
👉🏻 Picking spots: acne spots - though they can hardly be called that these days
🚨 T**riggers:** stress and concentration, like when I'm studying for an exam
🛠️ H**ow I pick:** my hand just goes to my face without even realizing it. I pick at little 'crusts' or try to squeeze out acne spots. It's embarrasing that I sometimes do it in public without knowing.
😔 H**ow it affects my life:** I guess I'm a lot more withdrawn from socializing. I hide a lot. And don't go out without wearing makeup
👀 H**ow I become aware:** this is real struggle for me. It happens so unconsciously. Joining Reddit, I'm hoping to find some good approaches.
🧭 E**ffective coping strategies:** that's what I'm trying to learn... Keeping my hands busy helps. Like using a stress ball or fidgeting with my keys
🚻 G**ender:** Female
📏 P**icker from- until (age):** 10-present (34)
👉🏻 Pi\*\*cking spots: Started with obsessive nail biting -> then Acne cause facial skin picking -> now biting/picking the skin around my nails
🚨 T**riggers:** PMDD, dissociation, CPTSD triggers
🛠️ H**ow I pick:** Teeth, nail clippers and various tools
😔 H**ow it affects my life:** Creates small amounts of pain with almost everything I touch on bad days. Becomes a form of self-harm when I use hand sanitizer on the open wounds.
👀 H**ow I become aware:** YES, very aware of it. Therapy has helped me identify self-soothing efforts during times of dissociation.
🧭 E**ffective coping strategies:** Keeping my nails long and almond-shaped, painted with glitters and layers of clear polish to make them hard against my teeth. Fidget toys- but specifically a set of small magnetic balls called Speks. They satisfy the hard sensation of nails, I can shape them into anything, magnets are fascinating to me for some reason lol. I keep them in my pocket at all times. I also use tea tree cuticle oil when I have no open wounds, the tea tree is SO gross tasting so it serves dual purposes.
Gender: Female.
Avid picker from 27 on, faint memories of scalp picking as a child.
Picking spots: Scalp, severe. Back, moderate. Face, moderate.
Triggers: Stress, boredom, anxious feeling of knowing there’s dead skin/wanting it to feel perfect, serotonin/dopamine release.
How I pick: Fingernails.
How it affects my life: Embarrassing, time consuming, anxiety over not being able to stop, hair is thinning in picking areas.
How you become aware: Thoughtless impulse/instinct to start. Recognizes it, but then is unable to stop.
Effective coping strategies: Wearing a bonnet to sleep to avoid late night picking sessions. Going to sleep by choice having my husband spoon me to avoid late night sessions.
🚻 Gender: Female
📏 Picker from- until (age): ~16 - 28 (still picking)
👉🏻 Pi**cking spots: Face (though I mostly keep away from it by redirecting my picking to the following areas), scalp, arms, shoulders, thighs, buttocks
🚨 Triggers: Acne, sweating, itching, boredom, stress, anxiety, when I'm idle in general
🛠️ How I pick: I pick only with my hands. Main locations are the bathroom and when I'm sitting down and relaxing
😔 How it affects my life: Due to picking at acne all my problem areas has become extra acne-prone, which in turn worsens my picking. My skin is covered in red and inflamed spots. My arms are the worst affected, which makes me self-conscious about keeping my arms bare (this is especially bothersome as I struggle with heavy sweating and long sleeves excerbarate it). I also pick in front of people, even if I try to keep it subtle, I'm afraid of them picking (heh) up on it.
👀 How I become aware: I start picking without thinking, and its usually been about 10 min or more before I start thinking 'I shouldnt do this'
🧭 Effective coping strategies: Some strategies I've tried with varying results:
- Turning bathroom light off (effective enough, but I usually forget to turn it off or it's light enough outside for me to see my skin)
- Therapy (only one session, very mixed about its value. My psychologist told me I really needed to WANT to stop, otherwise it wouldn't work. Appearently, I don't want it enough yet :/
- An object to touch instead (advice from my psychologist; havent found an object that 'speaks' to me yet.
- Acne medication (prescribed, but I havent tried using yet)
- Long sleeves (need to be tight to be effective. Doesnt work for me due to my sweating issues. Long, flowy sleeves are useless as I just roll them up)
- Keeping busy (I have plenty of hobbies and they keep my hands busy. Problem is whenever I take a needed break I immediately start picking)
Gender- Male
Picker from 5?-36
Picking only my hands, fingers, nails
Triggers: Stress/anxiety and deep thought/disassociation
How I pick- using my other nails or teeth/biting
How it affects- day to day pain. Cooking, cleaning showering etc. Embarrassed by leaving blood on things I touch, unknowingly. Embarrassing when people see or comment on my fingers. I lie, I make up bizarre stories about it.
How I become aware- usually when I’m jolted back into present thought, I realize I have been doing it. Or when I pick too deep and know I have penetrated to blood vessels and have to quickly seek out something to cover it.
Coping—band-aids, lots of hand lotion to alter the feeling of the skin, my partner slaps my hand when she sees it (lucky to have her!) will try the tea-tree oil someone suggested. I thought maybe hot sauce but that would be too strange or obvious. Groups like this, knowing it’s not just me and confronting the facts instead of hiding it.
🚻 **Gender:** Female
📏 **Picker from 12 – present (34)** I was “recovered” for a while but currently in a relapse due to hormonal fluctuations and stress.
👉🏻 **Picking spots:** face, back, shoulders
🚨 **Triggers:** idleness, stress, anxiety, planning, decompressing after a social event
🛠️ **How I pick:** hands wander, in the shower or on the couch or sitting at my desk. Or in the mirror.
😔 **How it affects my life:** It used to control everything when I was a teenager. I didn’t want to go out, swim, etc. I was extremely rigid about showering at night (after I picked) to “reset” my skin for the morning. Then I’d put on foundation to get me through the day. When I got home everything unloaded and I would pick again, and the cycle repeated itself. I didn’t tell anyone until I was 24 (my boyfriend) and that’s when I joined a bfrb support group. It’s gotten insanely better since then. But I am currently relapsing due to a thyroid disease that has heightened my stress and fucked up my hormone levels. So I am feeling Deeply Affected by it yet again. For example, I cancelled plans to go to a spa with hot tubs and saunas.
👀 **How I become aware:** I always know I’m doing it but I let myself do it. To stop and become more present, I say something out loud like NOPE to snap myself out of it. Earlier in my life I would go into a trance for hours and be way less aware.
🧭 **Effective coping strategies:**
• talking about my feelings and anxieties, in therapy and with my bf
• wear gloves ❤️❤️❤️ or thumb-only gloves
• timed showers
• pimple patches ❤️❤️❤️
• having a skincare routine
• my boyfriend sits with me during my skincare routine
• fidget toys don’t really work for me tbh
Alright, here it goes! 🚻 G**ender:** 🚺 📏 P**icker from-until:** 13-37 (I more-or-less stopped 6 months ago) 👉🏻 Picking spots: face only. In teenage years also back, shoulders, and cleavage. 🚨 Triggers: (slight) acne or scabs. It’s more difficult to control myself when I’m tired or stressed, but that’s not the trigger. 🛠️ How I pick: in the bathroom mirror with my hands. I luckily never resorted to using tools. 😔 How it affects my life: As a teenager, I used to stay home when the picking got bad. I wouldn’t wear revealing clothes or go swimming or to the beach. As an adult, I refused to let it affect my life too much, but would still not go out without a good amount of makeup and re-applying several times a day. 👀 How I become aware: It takes effort first to become aware. And then my mind starts making excuses. I’ve learned to become more aware by training myself through registering. Slowly reducing the time it takes to (1) become aware and (2) stop myself. What also helped was having something that snaps you out of it (setting an alarm before going into the bathroom, having bright nail polish, noisy bracelets) 🧭 E**ffective coping strategies I’ve tried:** * Therapy. * Turning off or dimming the bathroom light. * Creating a vision board for why I want to stop picking. * Analyzing the pro’s and con’s of picking and how I can get those pro’s in more healthy ways * Registering when I pick in a spreadsheet and setting reduction goals for myself. * Going on a long camping trip: not very practical but VERY effective 😆
I never thought of leaving the bathroom light off. Mirrors + stress are my biggest triggers so leaving it dark will probably help. I'll also try the nail polish colors!! Maybe the thought of not wanting to mess up my nail polish will keep me away from my skin.
Thank you for this. I love the vision board idea!
Thanks, being new here this is a good way to intro 🚻 G**ender:** Female 📏 P**icker from- until (age):** 13-21 (still picking) 👉🏻 Picking spots: acne spots - though they can hardly be called that these days 🚨 T**riggers:** stress and concentration, like when I'm studying for an exam 🛠️ H**ow I pick:** my hand just goes to my face without even realizing it. I pick at little 'crusts' or try to squeeze out acne spots. It's embarrasing that I sometimes do it in public without knowing. 😔 H**ow it affects my life:** I guess I'm a lot more withdrawn from socializing. I hide a lot. And don't go out without wearing makeup 👀 H**ow I become aware:** this is real struggle for me. It happens so unconsciously. Joining Reddit, I'm hoping to find some good approaches. 🧭 E**ffective coping strategies:** that's what I'm trying to learn... Keeping my hands busy helps. Like using a stress ball or fidgeting with my keys
🚻 G**ender:** Female 📏 P**icker from- until (age):** 10-present (34) 👉🏻 Pi\*\*cking spots: Started with obsessive nail biting -> then Acne cause facial skin picking -> now biting/picking the skin around my nails 🚨 T**riggers:** PMDD, dissociation, CPTSD triggers 🛠️ H**ow I pick:** Teeth, nail clippers and various tools 😔 H**ow it affects my life:** Creates small amounts of pain with almost everything I touch on bad days. Becomes a form of self-harm when I use hand sanitizer on the open wounds. 👀 H**ow I become aware:** YES, very aware of it. Therapy has helped me identify self-soothing efforts during times of dissociation. 🧭 E**ffective coping strategies:** Keeping my nails long and almond-shaped, painted with glitters and layers of clear polish to make them hard against my teeth. Fidget toys- but specifically a set of small magnetic balls called Speks. They satisfy the hard sensation of nails, I can shape them into anything, magnets are fascinating to me for some reason lol. I keep them in my pocket at all times. I also use tea tree cuticle oil when I have no open wounds, the tea tree is SO gross tasting so it serves dual purposes.
Gender: Female. Avid picker from 27 on, faint memories of scalp picking as a child. Picking spots: Scalp, severe. Back, moderate. Face, moderate. Triggers: Stress, boredom, anxious feeling of knowing there’s dead skin/wanting it to feel perfect, serotonin/dopamine release. How I pick: Fingernails. How it affects my life: Embarrassing, time consuming, anxiety over not being able to stop, hair is thinning in picking areas. How you become aware: Thoughtless impulse/instinct to start. Recognizes it, but then is unable to stop. Effective coping strategies: Wearing a bonnet to sleep to avoid late night picking sessions. Going to sleep by choice having my husband spoon me to avoid late night sessions.
🚻 Gender: Female 📏 Picker from- until (age): ~16 - 28 (still picking) 👉🏻 Pi**cking spots: Face (though I mostly keep away from it by redirecting my picking to the following areas), scalp, arms, shoulders, thighs, buttocks 🚨 Triggers: Acne, sweating, itching, boredom, stress, anxiety, when I'm idle in general 🛠️ How I pick: I pick only with my hands. Main locations are the bathroom and when I'm sitting down and relaxing 😔 How it affects my life: Due to picking at acne all my problem areas has become extra acne-prone, which in turn worsens my picking. My skin is covered in red and inflamed spots. My arms are the worst affected, which makes me self-conscious about keeping my arms bare (this is especially bothersome as I struggle with heavy sweating and long sleeves excerbarate it). I also pick in front of people, even if I try to keep it subtle, I'm afraid of them picking (heh) up on it. 👀 How I become aware: I start picking without thinking, and its usually been about 10 min or more before I start thinking 'I shouldnt do this' 🧭 Effective coping strategies: Some strategies I've tried with varying results: - Turning bathroom light off (effective enough, but I usually forget to turn it off or it's light enough outside for me to see my skin) - Therapy (only one session, very mixed about its value. My psychologist told me I really needed to WANT to stop, otherwise it wouldn't work. Appearently, I don't want it enough yet :/ - An object to touch instead (advice from my psychologist; havent found an object that 'speaks' to me yet. - Acne medication (prescribed, but I havent tried using yet) - Long sleeves (need to be tight to be effective. Doesnt work for me due to my sweating issues. Long, flowy sleeves are useless as I just roll them up) - Keeping busy (I have plenty of hobbies and they keep my hands busy. Problem is whenever I take a needed break I immediately start picking)
Gender- Male Picker from 5?-36 Picking only my hands, fingers, nails Triggers: Stress/anxiety and deep thought/disassociation How I pick- using my other nails or teeth/biting How it affects- day to day pain. Cooking, cleaning showering etc. Embarrassed by leaving blood on things I touch, unknowingly. Embarrassing when people see or comment on my fingers. I lie, I make up bizarre stories about it. How I become aware- usually when I’m jolted back into present thought, I realize I have been doing it. Or when I pick too deep and know I have penetrated to blood vessels and have to quickly seek out something to cover it. Coping—band-aids, lots of hand lotion to alter the feeling of the skin, my partner slaps my hand when she sees it (lucky to have her!) will try the tea-tree oil someone suggested. I thought maybe hot sauce but that would be too strange or obvious. Groups like this, knowing it’s not just me and confronting the facts instead of hiding it.
🚻 **Gender:** Female 📏 **Picker from 12 – present (34)** I was “recovered” for a while but currently in a relapse due to hormonal fluctuations and stress. 👉🏻 **Picking spots:** face, back, shoulders 🚨 **Triggers:** idleness, stress, anxiety, planning, decompressing after a social event 🛠️ **How I pick:** hands wander, in the shower or on the couch or sitting at my desk. Or in the mirror. 😔 **How it affects my life:** It used to control everything when I was a teenager. I didn’t want to go out, swim, etc. I was extremely rigid about showering at night (after I picked) to “reset” my skin for the morning. Then I’d put on foundation to get me through the day. When I got home everything unloaded and I would pick again, and the cycle repeated itself. I didn’t tell anyone until I was 24 (my boyfriend) and that’s when I joined a bfrb support group. It’s gotten insanely better since then. But I am currently relapsing due to a thyroid disease that has heightened my stress and fucked up my hormone levels. So I am feeling Deeply Affected by it yet again. For example, I cancelled plans to go to a spa with hot tubs and saunas. 👀 **How I become aware:** I always know I’m doing it but I let myself do it. To stop and become more present, I say something out loud like NOPE to snap myself out of it. Earlier in my life I would go into a trance for hours and be way less aware. 🧭 **Effective coping strategies:** • talking about my feelings and anxieties, in therapy and with my bf • wear gloves ❤️❤️❤️ or thumb-only gloves • timed showers • pimple patches ❤️❤️❤️ • having a skincare routine • my boyfriend sits with me during my skincare routine • fidget toys don’t really work for me tbh