r/Anxiety•
cantrelatee_

Compulsive Skin picking as stress relief

Helpful Tips!

I've dealt with the issue of skin picking since I was a kid, it started around the time I developed ocd and anxiety. It never felt like a compulsion or anything like that, it's more of a stress relief. I mostly only pick the skin in my face and I have a habit of touching my face a lot generally. I mostly do it subconsciously when I'm having an intense conversation/whilst being very focused on an external thing and end up doing it aggressively in front of the mirror as a result. I have done so much unessesary damage to my skin over the past years and I can't seem to help myself, the relief I feel popping my pimples seems to have a bigger impact than the instant regret I feel seeing and having to live with the aftermath of my skin picking for a week. I know how bad I feel afterwards but as soon as I find a blemish on my skin, I can't resist the urge to pick it in front of a mirror, and once I'm in front of the mirror there's no stopping picking any other small blemish either. I really want to be able to resist and stop this behaviour so any serious advice or tips by anyone who has experienced something similar would be greatly appreciated :)

Posted Mar 12, 2020, 5:56 AM UTC

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