Dermatillomania

[Littlepinkstarsbyradish]

Does anyone else have this/has worked on this?
I feel like such a loser, I’m trying to be professional at work and dress well, look good, etc
and as soon as I extend my hand for a greeting it’s just red raw and so humiliating
I’ve tried the swizzle rings and elastic bands on my wrist, but as soon as I feel anxious I pick my thumbs to pieces and don’t even realise I’m doing it until I’m bleeding

Can you remember when and why this started? Finding the root cause is the best way of dealing with the problem.

I have Dermatillomania too, but in my case it is scalp picking.

I have lost a lot of my hair due to picking big lumps from my scalp but I still can’t stop. Some days I pick for practically every waking minute and my hair, clothes and furniture get covered in the scabs from my scalp.
Sorry I don’t have any suggestions on how to stop but you are not alone x

I have it but on my face. Super embarrassing to have sores and scabs Al over my face 😩

It’s just so satisfying to pick though.

Could you put the twiddle ring on your thumb? And play with that instead of picking your thumb? Just a thought, I’m sorry I’ve no professional background in this.. also zinc cream in gloves overnight to help the healing?

I honestly thought I was the only one.
I can pick away at the scabs all day too.and then carry on picking when I'm in bed .sometimes denying myself sleep until I am done .
Scalp is a mess,and I worry about infections .
But I can't stop .

When my baby had excess my gp advised me to put a cup of bleach in the bath to stop it getting infected. He never got a skin infection despite all his exemA related rashes..

Do you know why you do it @gloriawasright ?
For me, I think it could be a distraction from difficult thoughts and feelings.

@BananaWaving
I am not really sure why.
have always been a picker.my parents were always trying to get me to stop.
Any scab anywhere will get picked.
But just now I have two really big ones on my scalp,
I hate the wound to still feel rough,so I think my intent is to try to get all the scab off and leave new skin,but I always go to far and pick to hard,so it's a vicious circle.
Sometimes my fingers actually ache from the constant picking .
I have always thought it was a self harming thing .

It definitely is self destructive.
Ive had a lot of therapy but never mentioned this really so I’ll raise it at my next session and see whether there are any techniques to help. I’ll let you know if I find out anything useful.

I have done this for 35 years, for me it is an ADHD related behaviour.

I've done this all my life. A few years ago I got acrylic nails and it literally makes it impossible to pick the skin around my thumbs. My hands have actually returned to normal! If this might be possible for you, it's worth a try.

Try reframing it as self-soothing. Children have so little agency or understanding of what's happening around them that they resort to using their own bodies as comfort. No matter what's going wrong there is always nails to be bitten, skin to be picked, hair to be chewed or pulled out. Sometimes people grow out of it, sometimes the strategy that takes the mind off the 'bad stuff' becomes so ingrained it seems impossible to stop. But anything the mind can learn it can unlearn.