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the Road to Recovery
I'm 24 years old, and I've been picking at my skin in some form or other for well over a decade. After many failed attempts to stop picking, I've finally been able to put enough tools together to stop picking, and to get started on the road to recovery. It has taken a lot of time and effort, and perhaps the hardest part for me has been coming to terms with the fact that my CSP is more than a bad habit - it's a compulsion, and it's connected to other things, including OCD, BDD, Anxiety and Depression. I have the last two under control, and I'm working on the others. One of the things that gave me so much encouragement was discovering that there are others out there who do this - I have felt so alone for so many years that I assumed it was just me. I don't want others to feel so alone on this journey. I also think that its great to share techniques and strategies that help to lessen the compulsion to pick, and hence the forums here are wonderful. I have started a blog where I'll be posting my experiences as I go through the process of quitting. I'll post stories about the strategies that are working for me, overviews and discussions of therapy sessions if they are relevant, and different kinds of treatment that I try, including hypnotherapy. I intend it to be something that will encourage anyone else who is struggling to quit. I will also post reviews of different books and self-help books, etc. that I have been using as starting points for quitting. If anyone is interested, please stop by, www.livejournal.com/cult_of_one
January 11, 2009
I will check out your blog. Thanks for starting this discussion. I began to get really serious about my picking and itching to the point of bleeding about 3 months ago. I have a very supportive boyfriend and, finally, a doctor told me that much of this addiction was associated with OCD, and the imbalance in the brain. Everything made sense. I have my whole life blamed myself, it is my fault that I did this to myself I use to say. And with the short visit and discussion I had with this woman doctor I felt empowered that I could change it around and that I didn't have to obsessively pick and scratch my life away. Since I have been trying to implore new strategies and take things one day at a time. In my road to recovery here are things that have helped me:
- being able to say to my boyfriend when I am having one of those obsessive moments, like picking or itching... and he asks why - the big root cause question, but having this has helped.
- if i go a day without picking I get a reward (like a really good chocolate bar - the $5 ones!) or once when I had this huge cut on my shin from a hike (I'm sort of a clutz too!) I got a new matching sexy bra-underwear set!
- Brain Lock - the 4 step OCD treatment - Relabel, Reattribute, Re-focus, Re-value... the re-focus step I am having some trouble with, but I will get there...
- letting go of the times when I let my OCD and CSP take over and moving on
just some thoughts on the road to recovery