Eating the scabs from picking linked to eating disorder?

I have picked my scabs for a long as I can remember.. ok and then I chewed them .. (not swallow)I had a very bad childhood with a nasty stepfather. Please help me , my family all knows!! my kids know .. Will they grow up like me... its not like I showed them but at real nervous times I tend to get "caught" please help me I am 40 been doing this my whole life...help me..please explain..

I have picked, but never eaten. Well, I take that back. I have biten, chewed and swallowed my nails, a habit I started as a child. Finally at twenty one, I stopped, just by acknowledging that I was continuing a nasty and childlike habit that I was embarrassed of. I stopped biting my nails by polishing them with clear polish and filing them daily and before I knew it, I had long & strong beautiful nails. 8 or 9 years later however, I came into a stressful period of my life and started biting them again. Hating it, but knowing I had the self control to stop if I just made myself. Like another poster said, I woudl be thinking, okay this is the last time - just one last nail biting session. I would not bit them in front of people, but while I was driving or watching tv, or stressing out laying in bed with my mind going way to fast. Finally, after 6 months of nail biting, I have stopped again. I dont even have the desire to chew em. It's like once they grow out a bit, I am fine. As far as picking goes however, I have picked acne forever, thinking it may make it better, but we know how that works. When I was pregnant, I had a couple of acne bumps apear on my shoulders that I picked until they were deep scabs, and left me with dark scars. Now that the hormone balance is back, the acne is gone, but I am reminded by the scars and I can't even wear cutesy shirts w/o them showing. I once had dry scalp and a littel scab formed, which I picked for months!!! That thing got big and deep and I would like picking it off even though it hurt. I also have a toenail picking problem. I remember seeing my mom do this, which she STILL DOES TO THIS DAY, and I think that's where I picked it up. All of my firends get cute pedicures and I dont even want to go in to get one, b/c my toes are so NOT pretty. Maybe getting pedicures will be my motivation. If I have a bllister that dries on my foot or something it turns into a total ongoing pick fest. So, even though I don't eat - I do have a problem. Bad joke, but if everyone lived in the same neighborhood it would make for one heck of a trick or treating time! haha...

Phew ! What a disgusting habit...I think that's something everyone on here can agree to. So then, why do we do it ? OCD, Depression, some anxiety, bipolar issues ? Sure. I DO NOT think that drugs are the answer. They treat potential causes, but are not effective or worth all of the long term risks. I have had major success with Chinese traditional medicine -laser acupuncture, for obsessions and the previous manias. Hypnosis may also be very effective. However they are all gross habits, one of the main causes is simply a lack of self control. Get a hobby ! Get your mind ON something and out of an obsessive mode. Anything. I used to eat my nails, I now have realized that I chew them off until they look manicured, which was never possible. I now trim them short and that issue is done. We also need to realize that EVERYONE, EVERYONE has problems, even the woman with the $5,000 dress and seemingly perfect life. She probably buys those things because her husband is cheating on her and that is her only love - possessions and compulsive buying. Keeping that in mind, do realize that obsession is a problem and if you can control this one, it can and usually does transfer itself into another area of your life - addiction - obsessive behavior in other areas - compulsions. So, again, self control is a major factor in making a change to this issue of picking and eating. - And prayer never hurts ! Good luck all of you, believe in yourself and you can do it, one day at a time.

I pick and eat, like you. I admit it might have to do with an issue with my self-image...I'm thin. 5'3 and 104 pounds on a good day...but I've always wanted to be thinner. Last summer I was down to 99 pounds for a while, and I was tired a lot, but I felt so beautiful. I felt like a willow-wand, springy and thin and fresh. I've never really enjoyed eating, it makes me feel, again, unclean sometimes. But I have always been very thin, naturally. I don't know. It's stress relief...or was. Not anymore. Now it stresses me out. I never feel bad about eating my scabs and such (until I actually start thinking and realizing how disgusting it it), it's ME and I'm just putting ME inside me again. Self sustainability. I also view most people as dirty. I wash my hands more than normal, which is healthy...But I feel like a hypocrite, calling people dirty when I have my own nasty habit... So, I think yeah, it might have something to do with eating disorders. I'm sure it differs person to person, but a lot of people here are linking them.

To Pickypicky. Your story brought tears to my eyes. I am 27 and i need to sort my problem before it escalates. My obsessions started when i was 13 and was told it was about time i started to shave my legs, by a boy in my class. I started on my eyebrows next and at one point pulled almost all of them out. I have since let them mostly grow back, but cant sleep if i find one that needs plucking. My scars used to heal and fade but i won't let them anymore and have permanent navel scarring. I cant stop biting my nails, eating the skin around the nail, pulling unwanted body hairs out, picking out with a needle and making bleed the ingrowing hairs, i pick and eat my nasal offerings and i know people see, it revolts me to see someone else doing it, yet i can't stop. I pick at scabs and spots til they bleed and often get infections. My condition is embarrassing because i havnt known how to explain it. Who to talk to about it. Or even that other people have the same obsessions as me. I think its time to go see a doctor. Has anymore gotten treatment for these problems? I would like to know what to expect.

Amazingly, I typed the words, I dare not say outloud ,into the search engine, and found this site. Although it won't help me stop, it helps me come to terms that I am not so sad and sick as I thought I am. At 48, I have been picking and eating forever, childhood grazed knees and eczema began my vicious circle. I had a vile school life..bullys made it hell from start to finish. I was raped at 18. But I have NEVER allowed any of that to spoil my life. The only thing that spoils my life is not being confident to wear sun clothes due to my many scars and scabs, all self inflicted. I become rather housebound during the summer and crave the winter. I have a wonderfull husband, who does not care about my skin issues and 2 children. MY worries are...both of my children have eczema, and both pick and eat. I worry they will be like me...scarred and sad. And I have no idea what all these years of skin abuse has done to my internal organs. Does it clog arteries? I had a blood test not too long ago, and my doctor found a liver infection. Is that related, or maybe due to infection from open wounds? I worry for my children. I do not worry about my past, I do not have a compulsive problem. I am so overjoyed to find that this is not a problem I invented all those years ago...this is a habit I need to break and should have had the will power years ago to sort out. But doctors do not care. Steroids for too many years they will advise, but the advice on picking...cut your fingernails! Thankyou to everyone brave enough to talk on here. You have helped me more than I can say. XXX

huh.. i didnt know this was connected to depression/eating disorders/abuse.. well i got depressed last summer and then i wasnt for a while when school started until about last november.. i think i first started picking scabs on my head sometime during that time.. and now its a habit and i even do it in public. which is bad.........-__-; idk if it IS Dermatillomania but it kinda sounds like it well i just want the scabs to go away so i dont have anything 2 pick @.......

I'm so glad I found this. Please allow me to tell you my story and see if anyone has similarities. I was a picker from as long as I could remember. I was also an eater. I researched pica a bit, but it seems to be so taboo it's not discussed. I did the following: *Nose picking and eating. Actually would have fantasies about it. *Severe issues with the scalp. I remember in Jr. High how I would "gather" my product. Scratch my head onto a piece of paper. Allow the paper to collect all of the "goods" Then, enjoy my works. *I also picked and ate scabs and acne puss. At the age of 19, I quit. However, I replaced it with smoking. I'm still obsessed, if that makes sense. When I am half asleep, I think about how good it would be to go back "just once" I haven't yet, however I am still obsessed with picking and popping. One of my greatest fantasies if having full access to my own back. To pick and purge as necessary. It's almost sexual, how carnal and instinctive this desire is. Do you think many people, have these desires? Is it just a taboo of our society? I would love to wake up one day and find it disgusting. I feel like I have been a recovering addict for over a decade. I tried to associate it with the most disgusting thing possible, eating vomit. Gross! However, it's like a dirty habit I can't ever do again. And I smoke so often it is crazy. Also, instead of eating my findings, I run them between my fingers and smell them. Bizarre. I know. I spend most of my time now smelling my fingers. Not normal at all.

Actually, there's nothing morally wrong with the behavior pattern you are experiencing. The difficulty that you are currently encountering is societal pressure. Mankind spends a lot of time, money, energy and resources to artificially differentiate itself from the 'wild' where things like scab eating are common place....but the truth of the matter is that it is everywhere. Poor, rich, all races, all sexual identities have folks that participate in this behavior. Don't hate yourself for 'deviating from the norm', but rather congratulate yourself for resisting the status quo (an artificial construct).

wow, finally I found other people like me. I have been researching this for a while. I noticed that I do most of my picking when I am stressed, or when its late at night, or when I am nervous about something. I also just recently have been reading some old books about self mutilation (I used to burn myself) even though I am trying to read the book to help myself get better from the picking, I am noticing that I am picking much worse then when I started to read the old books. I am doing a HELL of a lot better than before (I haven't burned myself in more than 6months!!) but every now and then my sly mind finds new ways to self mutilate and bring me back into the numb state, I turn into a zombie and pick the hell out of my scabs and eat them... So if this helps anyone. I think the picking has a lot to do with self mutilation and abuse - physical, sexual or mental. We are punishing ourselves in one way. We know it looks bad, we are bad so we need to punish ourselves and purposely sabatauge the way we look or the way people look at us, perceive us. If we are all scabby people may shun us. Which is negative and in turn make us feel alone and unhappy. It is a vicious cycle, because we want attention but when we get it, it is negative which makes us feel bad about ourselves and then we pick....and start the cycle again. I am not sure if I feel 100 % this way. But it is what I have been thinking about lately and i may be on to something..... hmmmm??

Wow. Im soo happy I found this. Im 15 and about a year and a half ago i was anorexic. It lasted for only six month and never got to the point of hospitalization because my parentts noticed it early. Three months into my anorexia i wanted to bleach part of my hair. At the time it was past my shoulders, very healthy, and jet black. I was just doing the top of it. During the bleaching process, the chemical reacted with my hair products buring my hair and scalp. I never messed with my head before I bleached it but after, I started to develop all sort of mental problems. I also happen to be a perfectionist so after the hair incident it was very damaged. I got to where i would pick the split ends study them then toss them. It never got too bad until last December. I started pulling my hair, never alot, just a few strands. If they were damaged i would play with them, if not i would drop them. In mid December the hair pulling got so bad, it got to where it was shorter than my ears.. In January I started seeing a counselor. She gave up on me after six sessions so we decided on a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with OCD, Trichotillamania, and Psoriasis of the scalp. I am currently on Zoloft. Well Im glad to say the hair pulling has stopped and it is about an inch past my ears. Sadly the psoriasis got pretty bad. The spots on my scalp itched like crazy so i constantly scratched. Then I started to pick. And now, yep you guessed it, I eat. Am I crazy? What is wrong with me? Is this taboo? Is it cannibalistic? Im just happy Im not the only one of this sort. Help me out guys. Please. I know its not normal. I know it cant be healthy. I do know there is a way to stop is.

WAIT ok ok ok okm wait! t ------The ingestion can pass it takes time to recover from habitual acts, it may resume but it doesn't feed you and if you couple it with guilt it only hurts, sooooooooooooo -------Well you can stop acting like you are required to do it, act as if the stuff is like a (i'd say a blown nose but, i've been there too,) bit of food during a nice meal you politely wipe away and continue on without a second thought. What a fine eve indeed. If you are arriving at this situation often look at what is making you feel this way, it is often the answer, though it may be hidden.________________Please enjoy I've put a few thing down Dandruff can be alleviated via certain shampoos, Eczema http://onemomagainsteczema.blogspot.com/2009/05/bleach-baths-update-and-thoughts.html scalp picking frustration and anxiety.......(maybe after spending 10 min. of doing it while tinking about what you want to be doing the only result you end up with lies the tip of yoyr nail, so to reward yourself you.... the choice is yours. The nutr, value isn't there, it only serves to gratify your effort. Make something of life. here's the test: you get one, you learn quick, you are you and what do you want to be, no one can stop you, don't doubt yourself. Growing up my sister would chase up and down my back searching for the slightest thing. My face, endured not as much torment as my back, being pinced and bowed, curled and rolled, manipulated until the least fathom of my pores bore forth their tears..white streaming like wax through a sieve... "no-no wait,...yeeouch," I'd yelp. "wait wait hold on i've goddit," she'd say. dam dam dam get off!!! --------->to the future_-------------> ------------ STARTING WITH NAILS______ I've realized that though i do share habits with most of you, i have realized a few helpful things: 1. Mind that you fulfill necessary needs i.e. urination, defecation, cessation of hunger (via eating a healthy and interesting diet), aleveating sexual frustration 2. Choose a different route. I took on nail biting (ahem, chewing cuticle ingestion, nail ingestion) and did well with several methods. 2a. tapping the nails upon a hard surface will stimulate the growth of them but, be warned, if you are looking to do this for more "enjoyment" as I saw, a solution is to begin cleaning under the nails. oh, there will be a degree of stuffs that gathers there, be forewarned that you fears of 'ickness' are all too present here. take to it with a ______________wait____check this----purchase a glass nail file as a treat for your endeavour----use the file. that's where it starts granted we're still on nails file them in the same direction with every stroke. taper and shape your nails as you want them, they will follow but, you must want them. (my old hang-ups were movies, I'd have my nails doin good and whoops! I'd gnaw them off before the film had finished.) it's okay if you mess up. You Can't Be Mad At Yourself If You Are Working on Yourself. Just stick to it. This is a nice thing you are doing for yourself, you're a great person. NEXT: SKIN wow! growing up on a beach I had my share of consuming sheets of my own skin. Literally sheets. The size of your hand, the sad part was that it was never as exciting as I thought it would be, always disappointing, always secluded. ????? what now drain blisters into my mouth? aw heck... I have my own troubles too, I can only hope for a better ^^^diet^^^ (my own beliefs) to cure this, coupled with activity i.e. hobby, work, exercise, and dealing with past deamons fears of ex's, parents, lovers, risks,,,,,, AHEM! skin something that I realized in the past was (we all know this one) I'd be standing/Leaning in front of the bathroom mirror in the middle of the night just before bed. Face slowly growing redder and redder as I inched towards nothing, total cleansing of my face through skillful scratching and pressing of my skin. Then. I'd look. and Voila! To my surprise to thing I'd been working on had been collapsed under my efforts. So, redfaced and swollen I'd sulk back to bed. So I offer this to you. A WELL LIGHTED MIRROR in the evening is a fine foe. It will tempt you and tease you, flatter you without precaution, and leave you with guilt. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BED: WASH YOUR FACE, BRUSH YOUR TEETH, DO WHAT YOUR BODY DEMANDS, BUT, DON'T WORRY WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE. You will appreciate it in the morning. At the risk if picking I can only suggest the afternoon, the evening only threatens a greater effort. Good luck, it's not gross or disgusting it is. Thanks for being there for me.