So glad to find a forum dedicated to pickers...

Hello everyone. Reading this site has been so relieving because it somehow normalizes skin picking, and I am sure most of you can attest to how much shame is centered around the act of picking. Yet it is such a release and so mindless. Go figure. I have been a skin picker for years, since I was an early adolescent-so around 15 years. My mother was a face picker but my sister and I are exponentially worse than she ever was. So, I was basically in a house full of enablers except for my father. He HATED for us to pick. When he walked down the hall and saw us standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he would beg and plead for us to stop doing it. I have now been with my husband for 8 years and he begs and pleads, too. And so do I. I recently sought out help for anxiety through psychotherapy and medication and was prescribed Celexa which is a common SSRI and sometimes prescribed for OCD related behaviors (or so my psychiatrist said). I have had great success with the rx as far as anxiety and depression but my face picking continues. It has reduced but only minimally if any. I'm definitely going to start addressing it more with my therapist in hopes that psychotherapy will help. What I find most difficult about picking is uncovering some of the reasons why I do it, which forces me to confront old wounds that have never been explored. I have not read Florendale's book but his site and information has resonated so much with me that I want to do whatever I can to stop this "thing." Please, if you have ever felt similarly or have any information you would like to share I would love to learn more through other people who are having the same types of experiences. I know I, and all of you, can beat this.