Putting myself out there-"the trance."

I have also experienced the trance like state and it was very intense during the past few months when I switched birth control pills. I swear it made my problem 100x worse. Time ceased to exist. I don't really experience much thinking during other than ruminating on how awful I look but most attention is focused on the task at hand. I am working on stopping myself but it has become just about impossible lately. I am even considering inpatient treatment now since I have the skin picking as well as the hair pulling issue to overcome. I simply can't take living like this much longer. It has taken control of my life!

I absolutely do the trance thing. I can lose hours at this, and my mind just ticks over and over, caught in a loop of thoughts that aren't really productive. I'll replay situations in my head, or make up new ones where the people in my life do or say something that upsets me and I practice what I'd say in response, sort of refining it into the clearest, most logical and assertive response. I guess I sort of feel like a victim during these times, but I also feel like a general strategizing for a battle ahead. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who gets caught in a loop like this.

kmj, I also go into a trance every time I pick. I create imaginative story lines in my head that are usually related to my life. They are very detailed and often play out like a movie. The problem is these trance states are so captivating they hold me prisoner and I can't get away from the mirror! I just got a CD from the Hemi-sync brainwave series called "De-Hab", which is a 1 hour guided meditation to stop addictive behaviors. http://www.hemi-sync.com/shopexd.asp?id=43 The goal is to stop the trance before it takes hold.

I know exactly what you're talking about. I myself go into the "trance" when I pick. I completely lose track of time and can sit in front of the mirror picking for hours at a time. The only thing that is different for me is that my mind is virtually blank when I pick - I don't think about anything other than picking the heck out of my face. I go from pore to pore to pore, scouring my face for anything that seems abnormal. I sympathize with what you're going through. I just started my official day one! It's been a little difficult today, especially whenever I'd pass a mirror. But, so far, I've managed to keep my hands away from my face. Best of luck overcoming your face picking! ~Wade

I experience this too. It can be known as a disassociative state, and can involve flashbacks/memories/waking dreams that feel very real, or it can be a state where it's like you wake up and have no recollection of time passing. This has happened to me many times. I really want to reiterate the suggestion that you find a therapist. If money is an issue, people training to get their therapist's licenses are required to do some pro-bono counseling to get it, and may be a good place to start. Abuse that happens when you are very young may be consciously forgotten, or you may just not remember because of the age issue, but it can still have permanent effects. There are lots of books and websites about this, but it's definitely something to address with a therapist. I was abused as an infant (less than a year old) and I didn't know until a few years ago, but always suspected something was up. It really had an impact on me.

I do the trance thing also, I can sit there for ages, but most of the time it makes me feel so calm and almost as if I'm not thinking anything, so I just don't want to stop. Other times I go over situations in my head to though, mostly confrontations and what I would say to people if I could. And Kait I feel the same. I'm 17 and I finished school a year ago, I wanted to go to college and study media, I had everything planned out. I went to college but quit because I felt so down and couldn't cope and just had no desire to do it any more. But then I got worse because I didn't have any thing to do with my time. I got an apprenticeship and everyone was happy with me, but it really wasn't what I wanted and it was getting me down so I quit that too. I think this is when my picking started getting worse :( And now I'm planning to go to a different college in September and study Photography which has been my dream for ages, but I'm scared that once I go, I'll still be unhappy. I'm scared that its not the things I'm doing that are getting me down, but that I can never be happy doing anything, even the things I think I want most. Thinking all of this is getting me stressed and more depressed and my picking is out of control and I feel lost and like my life is gone. Sorry for ranting! But I just don't know what to do with myself :(

Hi there, I do the trance thing too, I can sit for hours just picking and staring into space and not really realise that I am doing it. I sometimes make up scenarios in my head where something bad has happened to me and I end up in hospital for example. I think I do it because that is the only time I feel like I have some attention on me and people notice me if something bad were to happen. On the flip side of that I come up with scenarios in my head whereby I am the 'hero' delivering someones baby for example, saving someone's life etc so it's good to know I'm not the only one!

I do the same. I recently sunburned (on purpose so i could pick) and sat in bed picking. It felt like 20 minutes, but then I looked up. It was 2 in the morning and I had been picking for over 3 hours. My skin was raw. And I caught myself in the car yesterday. Stopped at a redlight and started picking my arm. Next thing I know, horns are blarring because the light was green. I literally have to say "Stop" outloud to keep myself from picking...

Yep same thing here. I slip into this 'trance' within the first minute Im infront of a mirror. I remember yearsssss ago, when I was about 12, before I knew I had dermatillomania... My mum was getting so angry with me and asked me why I do it. I told her that I dont realise I've done it till it's over, obviously she didnt understand or sympathise at the time. As for the scenarios, I know my mind goes at 100miles an hour through thoughts. Generally they're playing through daily scenarios or things I have to get done, sometimes they're about not so pleasant things that I'm hurting about etc. So yer, it is true of others :)

Yes hi I am new to the site and I do the whole trance thing as well, i just slip into this peaceful place when i am picking my scabs or biting or picking at my lips. I can not seem to stop. It feels so peaceful to me and my boyfriend will try to break me out of my trance and yells at me to stop the picking.

Yes to the trance thing. I'd be in the bathroom for what felt like a half an hour, if that, and my husband always felt it his responsibility to yell out at me how long I've been in the bathroom like he's delivering a news report. I'd come out and he'd yell, "that was FOUR hours!" And he'd flip. I would argue and justify my position in what I was doing and be angry at him for his narration of my bathroom activities and be upset that he'd turn angry. He still does it and I still do it. The only difference is that he's coming to the end of his rope.