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rosebud123 , 14 Nov 2011

i'm 20 and I can't stop picking my face

I'm 20 years old and i've been picking my skin since I was 14 but recently its gottenalot worse. I can't stop. I pick at the littlest things on my face that norma people wouldn't even notice or care about. I sit in front of the mirror for hours. Sometimes I even use a needle to poke all over my face trying to release the infection I believe to be there but I only end up squeezing out blood. I'm a wreck I won't leave the house without makeup I've lost friends because i've flaked on them so many times because I don't wanna leave my house with all these nasty scabs on my face. I won't go the gym cuz i don't want my makeup to sweat off and people to see what I really look like. I put off seeing my boyfriend for Weeks and finally just broke up with him cuz I couldn't risk him seeing how ugly I was. Its ruining my life. I need he lp and support! Does anyone else have these problems???
2 Answers
amgoingtochange
November 14, 2011
hey der i know how u feel. i have spent last 10 years picking my face. i am so ashamed and i hate feeling like this. i have been doin well since joinin this forum and hopefully i will eventually stop for good. today has been a bad day for me and i always seem to have stuff to squeeze out. face is a bit red now so hopefully will calm down in few hours. but it is nothi compared to the holes i used to make in my face with my nails and tweezers. seriously cover ur mirror with a huge calendar and dump any unnecessary mirrors. keep lighting dim at all times. sometimes i get frustrated cos it too dark to pick but wen the urge subsides i be so glad i coukdnt pick. but i stil have a shared bathroom so i cant obviously cover mirror cos other people use it too. i really need to stop using that room cos that is sometimes w er pickin happens now. writing this is just like a release for me and i mite seem like i am waffling but typin this is keepin my fingers busy.
_sparrow
November 15, 2011
I'm with you on this one. I'm turning 20 soon and I've been picking since I was 13. I've always been an anxious person leaning towards OCD. I've used a needle too, thinking that would help get rid of all the bad in my face. Some days I wish the skin on my face would just explode and all the bad would disappear for good. Ugh, I know other people have it worse in the world and here I am inflicting myself with pain and more trouble. Sometimes I try to leave the house without makeup but I can only do it if it's dark out and I have to constantly chant in my head: "those who mind don't matter." I've flaked out on so many friends and I've used every excuse under the sun. I freak my parents out because I go from insanely happy one week to extremely depressed and almost suicidal the next. I want to go to the gym too but like you I don't feel comfortable leaving the house without makeup on. But I don't want to wear makeup while exercising. I know exercising will help my skin but I can't get out of the house! So I'm just in this never ending cycle of not exercising enough, picking, regretting picking, and staying at home. Sometimes I think maybe when we get over this picking obsession (and I say 'when' because we will--I'm staying positive) we will be very understanding people who care about what's inside a person. Even though I keep picking and I often fall into pits of deep depression, I always try to remember that God looks at my heart, not my face. We are all loved more than we can fathom by a creator who wants the best for us. He is helping me more than any treatment or medicine I've tried. That is the only thing keeping me going. Don't give up! I won't either!

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