New to the forum, desperate to overcome my addiction to picking

Thank you for your response and suggestions. I'm actually going to see a psychologist in December. It will be my first time and I'm hoping he has some helpful suggestions. I think I adopted my picking habit when I was 10 because that's when I started wanting to do really well in school. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get nothing less than straight As and to be at the top of my class at all times. Picking became a way of keeping myself focused...if I felt myself starting to not pay attention to my studies, I would scratch myself. So it's like a self-inflicted punishment. I continue to put myself under a lot of academic pressure and so the picking continues. I pick whenever I'm studying, doing problem sets and especially when taking exams. I'll definitely be talking to the psychologist about all this.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm sorry that your scars upset you. Mine upset me too. I want to go out in tank tops and grow out my bangs but I'm embarrassed to reveal the damage I've done to my forehead and back. I recently got a scar fading cream that I apply twice a day to the areas I have the greatest tendency to pick. It seems to be helping since whenever I reach to pick those places, I feel the cream and it reminds me not to do it. Maybe you could try that too? I too will share with you any strategies that work for me. I'm supposed to see a psychologist in December about this; I'll let you know what he says.