tips to stop picking

Thought I'd share some tips that work for me. From what I've read on this forum, some of you are in real pain right now but remember, no matter how bad things are right now, they can improve (a lot!). Chances are, if you're on this forum, you've already realized that you have a problem, and that probably is the biggest step you'll have to take. what works best for me is -not having any mirrors (when I'm on holiday for example) -not turning the lights on the bathroom at night (+ it's actually quite relaxing to shower in the dark) -spraying my face with mineral water in the evening -thinking about how I feel (before picking, when I start, during, and after). If you can just stop for a second and ask yourself "how an I feeling right now"? you might find an interesting answer, and it could also put an end to that specific picking session -understanding why I start picking in the first place and trying to address that need differently (say for example if I realize that I've started picking because I'm putting off the moment when I have to start grading a big pile of essays I could either get started so I get it done more quickly or decide not to start grading straight away and do something I enjoy instead: read a book, wathc TV, phone a friend, bake a cake...) -doing sports in which it doesn't matter what you look like (e.g. horse riding rather than aerobics...) -yoga, relaxation etc. - being nicer to myself. Say if it was a friend of mine picking their skin, I would never dream of telling them "you're worthless, you have no willpower, you've failed again, you look disgusting etc." so why speak to myself in those terms? If I have a bad session, I try to understand why and I try not to beat myself up about it. If you could "control" it you wouldn't have a problem, I think it's not really about control, it's about letting go, accepting nobody's perfect , and by that I mean nobody's skin and nobody's behaviour Sorry about the long post, hopefully some of my tips will be useful to some of you. In anycase keep on smiling if you can:-)