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It's a form of cutting your self right?
I started picking at age 12 and am now 16, I am a serious ballet student at a top ballet school training to achieve my dream of dancing in a company, and I noticed that I started picking after I had switched ballet schools to a more professional one and was under a lot of stress and that same year my friend had tried to kill her self and normally people cut them selfs to self harm but is picking my self obsessively until I bleed and then picking some more self harm even if I would never self harm? Is it like subconsciously self harming?
October 16, 2012
haha, that (I think) is a contentious question! Some people seem to think that skin picking is a form of self-mutilation like cutting, but others think of it more as an obsessive "grooming." Don't try to beat yourself up about whether or not you're hurting yourself on purpose. I'm focusing more on the fact that you said you are under a lot of pressure and stress. Stress is my number one picking trigger. I'm very sensitive to stress, and that's how I deal with it. (Or, well, did, until I quit!) You're going to need to find another outlet for your stress before you can quit picking. I don't know if it's possible for you to do or not, with your dancing and all, but I keep a smooth rock with me to rub when I am stressed. It is immensely calming. I also do self-hand massage, which is soothing. Some people do pressure-point therapy, and there's stuff you can research about that online. In any case, you're going to need to work really hard to quit. It isn't something that's going to happen over night. You have to be devoted to it, but you truly can do it. Good luck, and congrats on your dancing career! That's awesome. BUT don't let it take you over.
:)