basic guidelines

Avoid coffee! I drank a whole pot of coffee today and the urges are like x1000000! Driving me nuts.

i am proud to say i am 3 weeks today with no picking !!! dermatologists didn't help me. being chastised or shamed didn't help me. i'm sure threats would never have helped me. what has helped was desperation, information, knowledge, finding out there are so many other people suffering similarly thinking i was the only one, and receiving support. i believe it is possible for many of us to get serious with ourselves and conquer it with those things, but i was on the doorstep of disbelieving it was within me and was about to seek hypnotherapy or whoever (not whatever) my dermatologist and/or psychologist suggested i see, but i thought i'd give it a full effort with the information i'd found (basic, sound guidelines) and the folk here embarking on 40 day challenges and the like and have amazingly surprised myself by making it this far. it "is" possible, fellow sufferers. i've never made it past a day before this so this is big. i was desperate and have gone this far. if i should fail, i now know that it will just be a minor set back and i will be able to do this far again. but i do not intend to fail, i just know from quitting smoking time and time again before i finally did it (I quit in 1975) that failures are common before successes. it just takes perseverance, commitment, and sometimes downright desperation. i just hope for each and every one of you that you succeed with your efforts much sooner in your lives than i have. for your health's sake. i am in my 50s and picked from childhood through to now, mostly since i was 30. don't wait this long to help yourselves. all the best to each of you. do what you must do, whatever it is. IT IS DOABLE !!

I couldn't agree more! You have cut out the simple, bare-bones guidelines to fix this problem. I have definitely taken your word for it. Wow, 16 days - this is front - page news right here! if there was a dermatillomania help magazine, you'd make the cover! Today is day 10 for me. The urges to pick are still there and so I must do a few things to help with that. First of all, after 10 days, the redness has reduced to a more peachy color, so given 10 more days, the skin should look even more normal and healed. Seeing this peachy color gives me hope that the scars will heal if I continue to leave them alone. Second, i know that i pick when i am stressed and/or bored. Therefore, i try to do things that keep me busy or release stress. I go to the gym now. while IN the gym, I can't pick because a) people are in there, and b) my hands are always busy. After the gym, endorphins are making me feel good, which makes me happy and gives me hope in this whole process and helps the immune system and cells, which means wounds will heal that much quicker. believe me, this heals quite a bit of stress!! Third, I keep myself busy with hobbies that I find lucrative or satisfying, and possibly time consuming in a good way. For instance, i have updated my computer in a lot of ways and downloaded some awesome programs for making 3D art. learning that takes up time in a non-boring way - or i do homework, since i have to get that done anyway. (i get a lot more of that done when i'm not stressing and picking over it :) ) and Third, I keep the scars moisturized. oddly, hand lotions are not the only ones that i use. after rubbing hair smoothers through my hands to put in my hair, my hands are way more moisturized for long periods of time!! maybe there's more to these products than just hair care lol and Lastly, I don't look at my hands to inspect them in any way anymore. I keep them busy the best I can and just try not to pay them any mind after that. Hope this helps!!!

this is a good place for anyone to add strategies that might help with dealing with trying to conquer this skin picking disorder. gorillamom has suggested THE 12 STEP THERAPY might be something that would help people along. cheftk has suggested BODY TALK THERAPY. for others, AVERSION THERAPY measures might help, like putting an elastic around your wrist and snapping it any time you pick or wearing gloves so you can't. USING CANDLE LIGHT only in your bathroom so you can't see problem areas in the mirror has also been suggested. please feel free to add anything else to this post that might be used along with some basic guidelines. let's work to get this post to be full of good ideas. :) anyone ??

this has gotten me to DAY 35 !! 5 more days to 40 !! i hope this info and my success so far helps to inspire each of you. <3 <3 <3

if anyone thinks these guidelines are wise enough to keep near the beginning of the forum for new visitors to see, please post an opinion on it now and again as i have to keep it alive. i obviously think these are good guidelines as they've been working for me, but i think i'll leave it up to other viewers of this forum to keep it alive as i can't guarantee how frequent i'll be here as i am also keeping a journal of my progress on another site that has that feature. it's the stop picking on me site. stop and say hello there if you visit there and let me know how you're doing if you wish. i will keep checking in here now and again too, tho. i just don't know how often. all the best to everyone in their quest to address your skin issues. <3 <3 <3