Anybody else want to share their stories with me so I don't feel alone?

Hi honey. It seems there are lots of young girls on this forum with stories like yours. I'm an oldie (43) so you may not be able to relate to me. but I've been picking since early teams and trying to hide or making excuses for the mess on my skin. I'd never heard of dermatillomania until about 18 months ago - so seriously thought i was a freak all my life. if people see the scars on my legs and arms i get embarrassed and make out that i'm allergic to insect bites! I used to only pick in places that were easy to cover up. over the years without anyone to talk to it has got much worse. Having found info on the net I was much relieved and printed it off to take to my doctor - it was nerve racking to do so and didn't help that she initially dismissed it (30 years of seeing skin specialist on the false pretext that I had a skin problem rather than a psychological one). no i'm in the system - finally. I haven't yet managed to cut down on the picking but try not to beat myself up about it - 30 years of an addiction is hard to stop overnight. but am learning to try and spot triggers and some basic distraction techniques - simple meditation - i think in time with practice these will help. Get a CD on MINDFULNESS it will help you to switch off from the constant insistent voice in your head urging you to pick. xx

Hey :) Well, I am a 25 year old female and I pick at my scalp,fingers,toes, and sometimes my face.I don't know when I started doing it I just always have 99%of the time I don't know I am doing it. I do it when I am bored,tired,irritated,depressed,stressed,sitting in class reading etc.Let me just say this is a hard habit to break.When i can afford it I get manicures. The blunt tips make it extremely hard for me to pick or scratch at myself.When I would have them on for a month or so my fingers healed so much it was amazing my hands looked nice my scalp was healing.Now that I am broke constantly ( I am a student and single mother ) My scalp is back to hurting and bleeding my fingers look like I stuck my hand into a lawn mower and I have also somehow managed to give myself nerve damage in my left middle finger I think when I bit the skin off it put pressure on a nerve and now I can't feel anything in that fnger.So my suggestion is manicure. Sounds kinda dumb I know but it works for me so maybe it could for you too? Although if you also do like I do and use anything sharp to cut skin off it will still help to keep you from picking as much skin as normal. When I HAVE to do it I find a way but I have noticed it isn't as bad with fake nails on.

So i have no idea where to start. So I'll begin like this : I finally said what the F*ck !? This is freaken crazy ! I pick and pick and pick and pick and then pick some more. YESTERDAY for some strange reason i typed in "pickin at skin" on google and a whole bunch of sites and info came out. WOw .. I just read and read and when from site to site and now I'm here in this forum. I had no idea this was a condition or disorder! I just thought i was F*cking Weird but at times i wonder "this can't be normal !?" WTF So i'm very glad at least now I ain't the only person out here doing this sh*T !! But for me it's bad and i would say a bit hardcore. I pick unconsciously and consciously. I am a gifted Picker and digger. I can also pull with my fingers and my teeth. I'm 32 years old and I'm a Male. I've been picking since i can recall so i'm very multi-task. I can pick and do anything ! I pick driving, at work, home, watching tv, anywhere and anytime. As a matter of fact I'm picking right now ! I pick knowingly and not knowing. I pick till blood. Usually someone asks me if i don't notice first.. 'Is that blood?" and i'm like huh? Then i look and blood ! so i say whatever . I have Tons of excuses! My fingers are discolorated and have scars and hard tissue. I mostly love to pick my fingers but it usually is the one thing i can pick most or only when i'm at work or other events. I'm always picking old scabs, usually the usual ones but with a whole bunch of new ones. But it doesn't stop there. I crack my bones (I guess also obsessive compulsive disorder?) till they hurt . I have arthritis on my fingers and my sockets are rub the cartilage. Strangely enough, when i happen to bite my self my mistake maybe eating or something: I then find myself with my teeth bitting the punctured wound. I then start to pull it with my teeth. Sometimes slow little by little, yet sometimes fast and ruthless . Then after that it's like AUCH ! ! I'M SUCH AN IDIOT . WHY ? But the most bizzare thing of all is that after i rip my own skin in my mouth with my teeth (that its now a old ritual) i go and suck, lick, and eat a green lemon with salt . And let me tell you it Stings ! My fingers are like "Search Parties" that touch and wonder their way anywhere in my body looking for scabs, cuts, punctures, moles, pimples, mosquito bites, Crazy enough the skin i rip i bite and eat . My girlfriend gets mad once in a while i catch her by surprise and i pick one of her scabs and she GETS MAD ! ! HA HA HA HA My excuses for blood and bandages varies pretty much from any genre. I say whatever like I work construction, I was doing yard work, i got cut , and my most Ingenious one of all : I was pressure cleaning with drain-o-acid . I"m Picker Certified ! I never thought anything except that i'm just crazy but i just rode with it and didn't think much of it . For years i have done this reaching insane proportions. every time i wash a dish, or sprinkler a lemon or anything like that, my fingers burn cause i'm always picking and eating the scab or any layer of skin and drinking the blood and touching with my tongue till finally yesterday I discovered i'm not the only one do this. I FEEL A BIT ENLIGHTENED> SAY THIS SITE IS PRETTY COOL. HELLO EVERYONE !