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Suggested ways to treat my dermatillomania.
I suffer from dermatillomania. I'm 20 years old, a female and I want to stop.
I pick my scalp. I have very sore, red, bloody areas on my scalp. I very much want my fiancee to be able to comb his hands through my hair without feeling them. I'm a bit self-conscious because of that. I chew on the inside of my mouth and pick on the inside of my mouth with my nails. I pick and chew on my cuticles and nails a lot too. As a music minor, instrument being piano, I am very self-conscious when I have to go to piano lessons. I know my piano professor is staring at my hands and I feel this self-consciousness is inhibiting my ability to play piano as best as I can. I pick any scabs that come up. When I have a mosquito bite — or anything of the sort — I pick it until a scab forms and then I pick the scabs until I have scarring. I also am a nose picker. I am ashamed of the compulsion that I have with skin picking. I've tried stopping by buying rings and other things to keep my hands and fingers busy. This hasn't worked for me. I also have a nutritious diet, I take multivitamins daily, and I have a good exercise regimen which includes working on abdominals every day of the week and walking on the treadmill for an hour at least three times a week.
What would you suggest for me as a way to treat and defeat my dermatillomania for good?
P.S. I am so relieved to have finally found a site dedicated to skin picking and a forum where I can finally talk about my problem with others that have the same problems!
January 25, 2011
And also. Should I take care of all the symptoms at once or take care of them one at a time?