Skin picking is a habit not self harm??

[Itsahabitnotharm]

I’ve always had a bad habit of skin picking due to ASD, I very occasionally get an infection due to it. I saw a new GP at my surgery yesterday and I’ve just seen they’ve recorded it as ‘self harm’ on my notes ???

It’s just a habit?! Or is it now classed as self harm? AIBU to be annoyed at this

It's quite complex and depends on the reason behind it.

If it is predominantly sensory then I usually advise trying to limit access to the less desirable sensory experience (skin picking) whilst providing an alternative. Something else she can pick at which gives her the same sensory feedback without the injury.

For some ASD kids (often pre or non verbal) it can be a form of communication, albeit maladaptive or a behaviour which gets them something they want or gets them out of something they don't want. Although it can start with pure frustration. Then you need to do some behavioural analysis and work out an alternative way of communication whilst not positively reinforcing the self injury.

I think your daughter is more number one and the behaviour is increasing when stressed and anxious because it is a way of comforting and regulating herself, so the trick works be to find something which does the same job.

But ........ Neither are easy. Self injury is a very very tricky behaviour to manage.

Self harm is managed completely and totally differently.

Try not to worry. They say my nail biting is self harm even though, to me, that implies I’m doing it for the pain rather than because I don’t know how to stop.

I do it and not the same as self harm that I’ve also done. Why did you even have to mention it to the GP

What do you work as? I’m curious as I also work in mental health and I don’t think any of my colleagues would refer to this as self harm.

If you have join the Facebook group BFRB UK & Ireland you will find support and advice there. I think they have Zoom support group calls for family members of those affected too.

Did the GP discuss with you anything about the idea of self harm or whether it might be self harm?

If not then you are absolutely right to complain.

He can't stop. He may want to, but he'll just keep on doing it. It's like a tiny little brain malfunction.

I've seen it described as part of the ASD spectrum, an aspect called sensory processing disorder. Just as some children can't stand the feeling of seams on their clothes or loud noises, because it's overstimulating, others crave stimulation and find it soothing to pick or bite or whatever.

If you cut off their source of stimulation, the craving will just find another outlet. I remember chatting to one mum at nursery who was telling me how pleased she was to have cured her DS of thumb-sucking. Just then the nursery teacher called her in to tell her the DS had started biting other kids.

Being really honest I get very annoyed when / if someone tells me to stop doing it. I’ve had teachers tell me to stop it when I was younger and the rage it induces in me is hard to explain. My dh thankfully never says anything to me. I’d feel really resentful if he did because it’s my way of relaxing and zoning out. It’s a bit like telling someone they can’t cross their legs a certain way or they have to sit up straight in a chair - it feels that intrusive and confrontational. I fully appreciate how annoying it must be for the other person who doesn’t like it but I won’t stop doing it for anyone. Sorry.

It'd bother me too OP and I'd want it stripped off my record, it's disturbing and I'm glad there's a lot of common sense on here amongst the professionals answering.

You could in that way pedanticly classify a lot as self harm - like overeating, overexercising, not getting enough sleep, etc etc! All habits that can lead you to the doctor's with stress, strain etc.

Nail biting / skin picking, it ain't self harm. It's a self soothing bad habit. I bite my nails all the time & it doesn't hurt me, I like doing it!

As I mentioned you need to stop getting the infections by caring for your skin, and then you can escape the questionable categorisation from these health professionals.

No nothing at all ! Just said it was infected and this time I needed tablets as the cream wouldn’t be enough

This is not the same thing at all. What you do is what just about everyone else does or has done. Skin picking is a particular phenomenon. What you're describing is not.

The children you work with are children who have already been identified as needing mental health support for other behaviours and you are recording the nail picking or whatever as an observed behaviour.
So you saying you class something as self harm is entirely meaningless in this scenario.

I would also seek to have it removed OP and find it a very sinister type of recording that could potentially be used against you in matters of competency later in life or used by insurance companies to avoid paying out claims in the future ie by saying you had not disclosed a mental health issue

This is exactly why it’s bothering me as I feel it could potentially be a problem at some point

Either way it’s not a good idea

Completely disagree.

I've been biting my nails and the skin around them for decades. I've had several paranochyias, just like the OP which are actually extremely common finger infections and I've been able to stave them off developing because of using savlon etc. No one has ever suggested to me that I'm self harming.

Nail biting / skin picking is a bad habit which can sometimes cause infections. Nothing more, nothing less.

The OP I think knows her mental health.

My daughter does this💔

Of course it's Self Harm!
It can also be a habit.

You are doing it to yourself and it is causing harm.

That's not what self-harm means.

I used to obsessively skin pick until I started Mounjaro (for weight loss) - to me it a was a compulsion

I think the term "self harm" is very emotive and implies that you have serious problems with your mental health, which you don't seem to.

Context is everything and in your case, I think your GP is inaccurate.

You need to get them to reword it. I’ve recently taken out new life insurance. During that process I learned that the insurers can contact GPs - only with your permission - although if you refuse permission presumably you don’t get the cover? - for access to your medical records. I was also told by someone who works in insurance that one of the things that will raise concern is any mention of self harm.

That’s not what self harms means

Christmasbear1
How have you been getting on? I try for a while to stop then something triggers it and I start again. My cuticles are like raised lumps as I can't stop. I try nail varnish and that works for a while.