Thank goodness..

Hey everyone, I'm brand new here - so first of all, thank you for your stories and inspiration and second of all, thanks for taking the time to read this. Out of desperation today, I googled my problem... I think "how to stop picking my skin" - my boyfriend is getting really frustrated with the way I view myself. Long story short - I was a competitive athlete up through my sophomore year in college (quit due to injury), had a lot of eating disorder issues in college, developed anxiety over retiring from something that identified me for as long as I can remember, and then the picking just came naturally. I pick mostly at my arms, shoulders and upper back... sometimes my legs if its super dry - but thats not usually the problem. I cant wear anything without sleeves.... I feel so ashamed and humiliated. I had no idea this was a real thing - I just thought I was nuts and that it would go away if I actually put some effort into it. Well, good ole Wikipedia came up on my google search and more links led to another and here I am. Ive made a real vow to myself today that Im going to do something about this. Im going to take this hour by hour and celebrate the small milestones. My boyfriend and I have a long distance relationship (2 different countries) and I fly out to see him in 17 days. I know realistically this wont go away by then, but Im hoping that there will be some kind of change. I was really thinking about going to a therapist, and for now I'm just going to do this on my own and read what you lovely people have to say. :) Good luck to everyone :) D