Online Test

Find out the severity of your symptoms with this free online test

Take the test
belsy , 23 Jul 2009

Where is everyone from?

I noticed the message asking if anyone is from UK and thought it might be nice to find out where we are all from.... united across the world but our common plight. I will kick off ... I am from Canberra, Australia.....
186 Answers
Add Comment
maddykins
November 20, 2009
Hi Cosmic Girl. Great to hear that I am not alone. It is definately due to anxiety, stress issues first but then boredom and feeling low are reasons for picking too. Read somewhere that someone with this skin picking problem should avoid being left alone but I have been a single parent for 8 years so it has been impossible for me not be alone every night and it is at night that I pick the most because of bored or thinking about things from the past!!!!!! Gone back to picking face as well as arms lately so really fed up with the mess I have made of my face as well as my arms. Wish I could stop but think it is something that will never go away but something we just have to control but when I am alone quite alot and a highly stressed person it is a struggle!!!! Be nice to chat more so we know we are not only one in the world with this horrible disorder.
cosmic girl
November 25, 2009
Hello Maddykins I think you are definitely right about not being alone, I don't pick much when people are in the room with me. Now I am aware this habit has a name and is part of the OCD spectrum, I have been trying really hard not to pick. I have left my arms alone, but have noticed I have gone back to biting my lips a bit, I used to do that a lot as an unhappy child. Trying not to do that right now! I have been digging my fingernails into an eraser whilst watching TV (which is when I tend to pick) - it makes me realise how much I do pick as the minute I put the eraser down I start picking/lip picking again. So that is working quite well. Maybe it's just a habit that we need to unlearn. If I wasn't doing this I think I'd be a chainsmoker or something! We are all addicted to something aren't we.
maddykins
November 25, 2009
Hiya Cosmic girl. Thanks for replying to my last message. Unless we are with someone 24/7 we will never be totally free of this damn picking!!!! I felt unloved as a child and felt very lonely and as i am still single and alone now nothing has changed!!! I started using the Palmers skin therapy oil (from Superdrug) which someone recommended on here a while ago and i feel that it helps alot to make old scars look better. Lately my arms are looking better in general and I can only assume its down to the green tea I have started drinking as it counts as your daily fluid intake and I think it is detoxing my skin abit. Also when I have had a mad picking session i spray on my arms Savlon antiseptic wound wash which you can get from supermarkets and I find it makes them look not as bad the next day!!!!!! Gently massage on skin after spraying if arms not too sore. Hope this helps. Shame we didnt have a chat room on here and we could all type things to each other and it would stop us picking as too busy typing!!! Keep in touch.
cosmic girl
November 27, 2009
Hi Maddykins, I have just done the survey on this site about caffeine intake and its connection with skinpicking. Interesting...I don't drink more than two cups of tea and coffee a day (although I do have a green tea every day like you!) I was amazed at the answers I was giving about the way I was treated by my parents, upsetting to see in black and white.......... looking back I had a pretty lonely childhood, no affection, praise, reassurance etc. I really think that is what most of us skinpickers have in common. Also that we seem an intelligent bunch, I have never seen a forum so full of good prose and excellent spelling and vocabulary! Are we all perfectionists too? Terribly self critical because of constant criticism as children? Perhaps we were craving to feel something in what seemed an unfeeling world? I haven't noticed my children picking at themselves, I hope it's because they feel loved by their parents and valued. Thanks for the tips. PS I have also always played with my hair a lot, not pulling it out, just winding it round fingers, rubbing it etc. Even sitting at the computer typing, my feet are tapping away manically, I just can't keep still. Such an effort to be still, to relax. No wonder I wake up so tense, I bet I am tightly curled all night (although I can fall asleep very easily) Do you have any other OCD habits like me?
maddykins
December 06, 2009
Hi there Cosmic girl. Hope you are ok and doing well on your 40 day plan. I haven't been on site lately so have only just read about that. Too scared to attempt it because I will know I will fail!!! Yes I too am a perfectionist and my 8 year old daughter is too and she does pick on the odd occasion but she is sooooo loved by me so hope she will not grow up with this horrible addiction. If I could describe my childhood in 3 words it would be sad, lonely and unnoticed and I spent my life craving comfort and understanding from my parents and it was my counsellor who made me realise they won't change and once you have accepted that it makes you feel alot better. I moved away from my parents and feel better having less contact although after all i have felt since childhood I still love them. I suffer with a driving phobia and have had agoraphobia and have been on anti depressants for over 15 years to control them and i do suffer with depression too but not too severe but felt that I have always been low because I have felt so alone all these years. Take care and hope to hear from you soon.
winnie
December 04, 2009
originally from Southern California, now live near Denver, Colorado......is there any common thread between us ? Are you guys fair-skinned like me ? I am covered with freckles from too much sun in CA and I think it gives me a type of "cover" sometimes for picking at my face, I mean how could anybody really distinguish between my freckles and acne spots ?
eris23
April 07, 2010
i'm in denver, and Very fair-skinned, i think the Contrast between the white skin and red pimples, white skin and blackheads makes them appear worse and helps get the process of "get rid of it" started. When it's summer and i'm really freckly i dont notice the spots on my face so much, so my goal this summer is to go "bare" wherever possible so i can freckle my whole body, and thus not be able to tell the difference between a scar, a freckle and a pimple. also, if i wear tank tops, low-cut shirts, short skirts, etc. it functions like encounter therapy for phobics. Confronting head-on the second looks at my scars, and realizing how FEW people are actually looking, makes me less self-conscious and if im not feeling self-conscious, i don't pick. see you at coors field, i'll be the one in purple.
Ang-eh
December 17, 2009
Oakville, Ontario, Canada - Look into your eyes and appologize. -
Hannahsmom40
December 19, 2009
I'm originally from Syracuse, New York, but since marrying, we have been all over. Will be moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin soon from Leesburg, Virginia.
RobynnJ
January 04, 2010
I am from Ontario, Canada a small town named Collingwood
diva
January 06, 2010
Hello fellow pickers, I am a 33yo female primary educator, from Victoria, Australia..I tend to pick at myself every few nights/mornings or after school. Especially when I am stressed, anxious, overtired, bored. (I have been on zoloft for 5 years, it has cleared my mind, but hasn't allieviated the habit to stop looking at & wanting to scratch at my legs etc.. I have tried a few self help remedies, like putting betadene/pinetarsol on them, so i will not scratch. I often put bandaids on, wear tights & long socks to cover legs (problem area at the moment) Jeans are a god send, I detest hot days for obvious reasons. I have known that this problem is not the norm for as long as i can remember, but have hidden the fact that i do it..my ma and pa, sisters knew i used to scratch, but i never did it in front of them, felt a need to hide in the bathroom sometimes, hense make a big mess of not 1 scab, but more.. I have had this 'problem' ever since i was a little girl..somehow got an infection in my blood stream, that flares up in different parts of my body..arms, legs, bottom (that was the final straw, when i made terrible scars on one of my legs..I have always gone to the doctor for anibiotics, saying it must be mozzie bites (which is what i say to people, who notice the scars or say i have a blood disorder lol) I think I have hinted to the doctor that i have a bit of a problem, he said it is kinda common..didn't go into depth about it though..However, i plan on taking in some of this info & saying, yep i am not going to hide this secret anymore, here is the name for what i have.. However, i think he realises that there is more going on now 2 what i am admitting..eg) Do u scratch at these? to which i reply, um they just fall off in the shower lol..yeah right he is thinking..Anyway, i may give hypnotherapy a go as part of my CBT sessions with a lovely lady psychologist.. I guess i started becoming quite fretful about my skin, when these sores keep coming back & have been very bad for a whole year, even though they generally clear up (not this time..) My ankle started to swell up, resulting in a nasty infection in my blood.. anyway, it will work itself out, until then i will say 'no', 'stop' etc (i have tried this) maybe try a rubber band around my wrist. cheers for now, Di. (oh my, what a relief to be able to openly admit my long time, secretive habit)

Start your journey with SkinPick

Take control of your life and find freedom from skin picking through professional therapy and evidence-based behavioral techniques.

Start Now