Face picking (dermatillomania) does anyone here pick at their face when stressed/anxious?

[CrushedVelvetX]

Hi, so for the last few years I've always picked at the side of my face. I do it everyday but at times of stress/anxiety/ depression it can get a whole lot worse. I pick at it sometimes until it bleeds, it scabs and then I pick at the scan again. Always in the same spot. It wasn't u too I googled a year ago that I rekasied it was a actual mental health disorder called dermatillomania and I've read that some medicines for ocd can help. I'm wondering if anyone else has this as I know it's really rare but I'd like to know if ocd medications did help. I've also read that this is a from of ocd in itself. It's horrible because I have scabs on the side of my face that never heal and an ex partner has told me I look like a crackhead. I know not nice but it is what it is. So is there anyone out there with the same issue? Thanks

Anyone??

Bump

Yes. Stress brings out the picker in me. I'm also perimenopausal and coming out in spots... Not helpful!
I also pick just inside my hair line so invisible till I come to get a haircut. Then I feel awful. Embarrassed.

Me too but on the scalp where they can't be seen.

Hello
I've just come back to Mumsnet after a long break, and saw your post.
Yes, this has been me for much of my life. Not my face now, that was when I was a teenager. But also my back and shoulders.
Nibbling my cuticles till they're sore. Hair twirling and pulling. And chewing the insides of my gums. All different things at different times of life.
I'm currently considering an autism diagnosis, and thoughts that all these things are stims, self soothing at stressful times ( or most of the time!)
I have had Prozac in the past, can't remember if it helped ( sorry). There have been times when I've been able to stop some of these things by sheer willpower, for years. And felt very proud of myself. So it is possible to do so, though I can't guarantee its permanent, I'm restarted some again. Maybe I'm under more stress, I don't know.
It's middle of the night now, I need to sleep a bit but if you see this and it helps let me know. I had a book which helped me give up some of the things, I can try and find it later in the day.

I do my fingers and unfortunately so my dd, she has started ding her scalp now.

Yes I do this. I'm not young but still can't let things heal such as shoulders and middle back.
After a day of gardening and splinters all over its impossible not to pick them out. Usually drawing blood and painful too.
I never realised it was a thing though. I thought it was just me. I've even employed sudocreme now.
Listening with interest.

Yeah unfortunately i do it. Definitely some sort of ocd problem with me.

It's a form of self soothing. It's not self harming as some might suggest. It is something people may do when stressed or when bored. A session of picking may be followed by a feeling of self loathing.

Definitely familial, my poor mum picked and nibbled her fingers all the time, and dd is the same
The book is Habit control in a day by Nathan H Azrin.

I used to do this but not so much any more. Citalopram plus therapy helped me manage anxiety. Also if I'm feeling super tense I go and clean the car or bathroom, it's my way of getting rid of the nervous energy. Hth

Unfortunately the book is £75 second hand on Amazon! It's not a magic bullet either though it honestly did help me.
I'd have to read it again to precis, but I remember some of it is a bit like Alexander technique, that there's a moment between thought and action, where you can choose to say Stop. Particularly for me, the action of lifting the hand up to the face or hair.
It sounds hard because you could say, well I'm not even thinking what I'm doing. But there is still that moment before it starts.
For me too it is about perfectionism - if my face/ hair were perfectly smooth I wouldn't need to do it so I "remove" the imperfections. But skin especially doesn't work like that - it just makes it worse underneath! Frustrating.

What does help for my face is make up. I don't usually wear it and when I do, I don't touch, because I don't want to spoil it.
Keeping nails very short is also a practical idea re picking.

Yes - used to do fingers/cuticles. I've been lip-picking for years. I hate myself for it.

I have OCD and also do this - fingers, cuticles, nails, face, toes, and mainly the heels and soles of my feet. Sometimes to the point of not being able to walk, bleeding and enduring bad pain for days until it starts to heal. Counselling has helped a bit, but I’m heartbroken that my 3 year old also picks fingers, fingernails and toenails.

So there's a few of us here that really have a problem with this. We know it's a response to stress/ anxiety - probably too much cortisol in the body, though I'm no medical expert. Does anyone want to have a go at improving things, sharing support to see if we can feel better? I'll try and keep it going, if it's helpful?

I suspect I have OCD and this is a part of it, any sort of anxiety and I’m picking at my hands, lips, inside of mouth. Drives my DH mad. My hands are very often bleeding, especially in winter.

The OCD thing is an interesting one as a one of my best friends suggested it to me the other day out of the blue - I’ve often thought it but never spoken to anyone about it. Wondering whether there’s any value in a diagnosis, whether it would help with anything.

I do this too, I only do my back and shoulders now but used to do my scalp. I think I was shamed out of that when I went to the hairdressers once when I didn’t think it was too bad and she said she had to go and get some gloves to wear

I take Sertraline for GAD and I haven’t seen much improvement. It’s particularly bad at the moment but it’s such a compulsion. I really don’t know I’m doing it until it’s too late. Keeping nails short and using lots of moisturiser on the area does help a little, I’ve also been using Elastoplast Wound Healing Cream because I’m sick of having so many scars from it.

For inside the mouth ( cheeks) I used to suck rinstead pastilles to numb the area, it really worked.
Then I couldn't find them anymore and tried Iglu instead. But there was something I was allergic to and my mouth swelled up - to be fair that also stopped me chewing!! But I also had a trip to A&E ( It wasn't a bad reaction!) Anyway, I think any chewable mouth ulcer pastille is worth a try, it took me about 4 days to sufficiently sooth and heal my gums to the point where I no longer wanted to make them sore again. Even regular chewing gum helped.

I think loads of people need to do something with their hands/ fingers/ mouth. See the popularity of fidget spinners.
It's a three pronged attack -
-Finding Awareness of when you're doing it
-Finding something, anything that will distract or soothe in a less harmful way.
-Finding some way of lowering the anxiety feelings that cause it to start in the first place, whether that's something from the doctor, or trying calming methods at home.

I recognise times when I don't "twiddle". Eg in bed, in the bath. Because I'm calm and relaxed. So it is possible. It's just how to expand the calm times into the rest of the day.

I just found this on an Alexander technique website:

Repeatedly responding to triggers with excessive tension is what feeds habits. That’s what all habits have in common. It is hard to catch that unknown habit before responding with a more obvious one, but that’s the trick to stopping the habit from manifesting. Even if you repeat a habit over and over again, recognizing that first impulse to react is the first step in kicking that habit to the curb.