Online Test

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

Take the test
ver77 , 13 Jan 2011

Stress and Picking

Hi everyone! I'm new here and very happy to have found you all! My question is, does anyone find that when they try to repress their stress in whatever aspect of their life, their picking intensifies? For me, when I returned to university last semester after the summer break, I decided that I wasn't going to let myself get too stressed out because I felt that if I was calmer, I would focus better in school. Well, it sort of worked, I managed to become a much calmer person, but my skin picking went through the roof! I'm not sure what's better: being a tense, crazy person with decent skin, or a calm person with disgusting skin. Also, I was wondering if nail-biting is associated with dermatillomania, or if this is considered to be a separate condition.
9 Answers
Add Comment
Nightshade21
January 14, 2011
Yeah, I've had some correlations with trying to keep calm and the picking. Perhaps try a calming hobby whenever you feel the urge to pick? Does it happen when you study? I find that I want to pick when I'm reading/studying and the best couple of things I've found to reroute my hands is to give myself a little massage (somewhere where you don't pick, if you can) and knitting. Doodling helps too! Good luck!
majtam
January 17, 2011
stress is probably the main trigger for skin picking. i have found meditation helps, calming meditations, giving it up can be difficult as its part of our daily ritual. try and avoid the triggers i.e. standing in the mirror, that quiet silence that you pick, where you really are in a kind of trance state and picking commences. someone told me once that you pick because you suffered some trauma in your life and skin picking (self harming) helps you to avoid thinking about that event etc, i dont know how true it is as never explored it but i find being in nature, woods, walking, seaside etc all helps to bring us back to the oneness, the essence of ourselves that doesnt need rituals, picking, anxiety etc. i hope this helps. i also get migraines now and again and i know they are defo stress linked. calming the body and mind and being calm within yourself will help as you probably already know. i am starting tai chi classes tonight! with love tammy x
ver77
January 21, 2011
Thanks for responding. I don't think my case is caused by trauma...I have honestly never experienced trauma in my life. Isn't is also possible that skin picking can be brought on by other childhood stresses, such as having a history of family members criticizing you a bit too much about the way you look and act? This would be my case. My sister, who is 5 years older than me, I believe has always had bad self-esteem and would deal with it by criticizing those around her, and as her younger sister I was the main target. She would tell me when I was as young as 7 or 8 that I should start doing sit-ups because my stomach might get flabby, and stupid things like that, which, as a child, I believed. I thought I was fat until one day when I was 17 I realized that being 5'5 and 105 pounds is actually very skinny. She would also put a lot of "gentle" pressure on me to excel in school because she always did. So in this way I see how dermatillomania is related to body dismorphic disorder, although I wouldn't say that I suffer from BDD because I "grew out of it". Anyways, my point is just that I believe subtle anxiety-inducing situations in childhood could bring on dermatillomania, and not always a traumatic event.
rachel_e
January 14, 2011
Oh yeah, totally identify with that. While i was going through a break up last year and trying to hold it together at work and at home, my picking went crazy. I'm now thinking being a tense, crazy person with decent skin sounds pretty good! Then maybe once the picking is dealt with I can find another, less damaging way of dealing with stress. I just hope it's possible!
annee
January 15, 2011
I've been picking scabs on my body where ever I get injured. I never pick on my face because I don't want anyone else to know. But every where else is open range, even my hands but I try not to over do it there because it shows. I was a teen when it started and parts of my body are ruined with scars. I never knew there were other people who did this. I wish I could stop and I wish I knew why I do this. If anyone here chats on yahoo or someplace else, I would love to know. Annee
gtilly19
January 18, 2011
All your stories motivate me. I am trying the 21 day challenge, only on Day 2 but reading your stories help. Thank you.
mariewilson
April 05, 2012
Everybody could be a victim of stress. This is a psychological disorder that is not easy to manage. However, numerous studies – including the entirety of published literature on music therapy – suggest that listening to music or (better still) playing music can cause the right neurons to fire in your brain when you need to see things from a different, more positive perspective. By that, we could reduced our stress freely. There are innumerable totally free ways to cut back stress. Not only are they totally free, but a lot of them are quite simple. Give them a try. Resource for this article: Free ways to reduce stress now.
asmithkv
July 04, 2013
Singapore anger management therapy is already very popular among locals and helping out many people to find better control over their emotions. Psychologists who study anger and advocate hypnosis for anger feel that like any other emotions, anger is followed by physiological and biological changes in our body. http://www.hypnotherapy-singapore.sg/medical-applications-with-hypnosis/ treatment anxiety

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