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Thank You - I'm done with picking.
Hello,
I am new to this site/forum and will try to keep this post short. I don't like reading through messages that are pages long so will spare you all from having to do the same.
First off, I am a man in my early 30's and consider myself to be successful and lucky in most ways. I am married to a wonderful wife, we have 1 son. We are not financially rich by any means but we have a very stable/comfortable life. I was blessed with a solid upbringing/normal childhood and am very happy with where I am in my life. I'm active, fit, and physically/mentally healthy by any standard.
Thankfully, depression, stress, and self confidence has never been a big issue for me so there are no obvious underlying reasons that I can think of for my picking habit which I have had since my mid teens.
I have never talked about this to anyone, ever. I feel uncomfortable talking about it (even here) and am honestly quite embarrassed by the whole thing, like many of you.
My wife knows about my "subconscious" picking habits and has been very supportive in helping me stop whenever she sees me picking or scratching my face/scalp. Unfortunately, I don't think she understands that it's not always so subconscious and it's worse than I let on. I mostly do the picking at night and there is no hiding the damage I sometimes do. I've have friends and co-workers ask what happened to my face which is very embarrassing in a professional environment (or anywhere for that matter). I usually sum it up to a bad subconscious picking habit and try to avoid the topic.
I honestly don't know why I do it other than I think (or convince myself) that I'm making things better/smoother by picking at the scabs/imperfections but that's obviously no the case. You would think that one would have figured that out after picking for so long.
This morning, I was upset with myself after having picked at my face last night. Again. Out of curiosity, I did a quick search which lead me here. I had no idea this was such a common problem or that there was even a name for the disorder. I have been reading all day. I'm relieved to know that I'm not the only one with this problem.
I understand that most people can't just stop picking but that is exactly what I intend on doing starting today (my first real/serious effort to permanently stop picking). I'm hopeful that I will be in the minority that is able to do so and intend on following up after a few week/months. In my case, I'm positive that knowing the odds are against me will actually help.
Thank you to everyone who has posted on this forum and especially to the people responsible for creating/maintaining this site.
I look forward to helping/chatting with other "Dermatillomaniacs" :)
In reply to Good for you! Now...trying by Dancingpopes
In reply to Your quick summary of your by elias16
In reply to My first post here... by ohhmama