Oh my God. I have been searching for years for a place that is active where I can feel like I belong. Thank you guys so much for this. I may not know you, but I really understand how awful this disorder really is.
How awful is it to walk into class and feel like a clown because your arms are covered in light pink polka dots? Or that feeling of intense dread when that special someone you like notices your cut up fingernails and your facial scarring? Even swimsuit season scares me every year because under my belly button is a small group of dark pink dots.
I want you all to know that I will always be here to support you. I’ve wanted so desperately to find help and support for a long time now, so to make it easier for anyone looking for the same thing, I’m offering it out to others. Dermatillomania is a difficult disorder to curb, much less kick completely, and it comes with a secial, particularly potent brand of shame. I am here for you and I hope you are here for me. So if you ever need someone to talk to, please drop me an ask or a message. I may not be able to give advice on some things, but sometimes it’s just nice to talk to somebody that truly understands where we’re coming from! I love you all. Don’t you ever forget that our imperfections make us beautiful.
Help Skin Picking Get Recognized in the Revised DSM-5!
I don’t know if you guys have subscribed to the OCD Center of LA’s newsletter (I did even though I’m in Missouri because I’ve heard amazing things about them), but I got this in my inbox just a few hours ago and I strongly urge you guys to help spread the word!
From the OCD center of LA:
“For years, we at the OCD Center of Los Angeles have been treating adults, adolescents and children suffering with Dermatillomania, also known as Compulsive Skin Picking, or CSP. But this condition has never been formally recognized by the medical establishment. That may not seem important to some, but the impact of ignoring this devastating condition is that virtually no money has ever been spent funding research into the causes and treatment of skin picking. Furthermore, because skin picking is not considered a “real” condition, most insurance companies won’t provide coverage or reimburse for treatment.
But all that can change.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA), which publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is strongly considering including a new diagnostic category called Skin Picking Disorder in their soon-to-be-published updated manual, the DSM-5. But they are accepting feedback from the public and the mental health community, and may still decide to reject recognizing skin picking as a legitimate behavioral and mental health condition.
The OCD Center of Los Angeles urges you to take a few minutes out of your busy day to contact the APA during this brief period during which they are accepting comments from the public. Let the APA know just how important it is to finally include Skin Picking Disorder as a real condition in the upcoming DSM-5.
All you need to do is go to: www.dsm5.org
You will then need to create a username and password and log In before you can comment.
When you get into the APA’s DSM-5 comments section, we ask you to do the following:
1) Express overall support for the current proposed inclusion of Skin Picking Disorder.
2) While you are there, express strong support for the new name of “Trichotillomania” as “Hair Pulling Disorder (Trichotillomania)” for being more accurate and less stigmatizing.
3) Express strong support for the inclusion of Skin Picking Disorder in the same group as Hair Pulling Disorder (not in the appendix).
4 ) Express support for the use of the term “Body Focused Repetitive Behavior Disorder” (BFRB) to help cover related behaviors such as severe nail biting. “
By getting our condition into the DSM, psychiatrists and psychologists around the world will be exposed to the condition which will certainly prompt action and study. The more we push this, the more chances we’ll have for some serious breakthroughs in treatment!
Not even taught maybe, but encouraged. There are a lot of misconceptions about whether or not to pick at ingrown hairs and whiteheads. In most circumstances, if you leave it alone, it will go away faster (I promise). Eventually the hair will work its way out, or in the case of a white head, your body will reabsorb those oils. When you pick at those things, you tear a layer of skin off, and even if it doesn’t make you bleed when you do it, the raw area of skin needs to protect itself- thusly making a scab, which- gives you more to pick at, which is bad.
also- run on sentences are bad, don’t follow my example. xo
Thank you for the tips and kind words. It’s always good to have alternatives.
<3 Try knitting!
Anonymous
Knowing it has a name lets you know that you’re not alone. Good luck. xo
Hi everyone,
I was looking up OCD the other day and learned about dermatillomania, and was shocked when I read the symptoms. I think I may have this. I have picked at my skin for as long as I can remember. I used to pick at my face but am not as bad about that now as I was. Now I mostly pick my back, arms, and shoulders, and other areas that I notice blemishes on but not nearly as badly as the aforementioned areas. I notice I do this more when I’m stressed or bored. My parents have told me to stop, that I am destroying my skin, and I want to stop but sometimes I don’t even realize that I’m picking. My parents assume that it’s something I do because I want to, and sometimes I do, but even then I know that’s not what I really want in the end. But I get discouraged when I look at myself and see the damage that has already been done. I am so ashamed! I just wanted to share my experiences, maybe to acknowledge that it’s a bigger problem than people think and that it’s hard to stop, and also find some solace in that there are others out there like me. I thought I was a freak and a failure. I always think people judge me by my marked skin, and I know I judge myself on it. But now I realize there are others struggling with the same thing. Thank you for sharing your stories and experiences, it really helps me to know I’m not alone.
Anonymous
Anything is possible I suppose. It could be bad to leave it untreated only in severe cases where infection is an issue. I would bite the bullet and bring it up to your parents. Keep active with sites/blogs like this, we have a lot of tips to offer. Good luck!
Compulsive skin picking, dermatillomania, or neurotic excoriation is a condition in which the victim is overwhelmed by an unbearable urge to pick at their own skin. At times this condition is brought on by anxiety, depression, or Trauma Reenactment Syndrome triggered by past events. Subject A felt compelled to collect and document the byproducts of the disorder and used knitting as a way to attempt to replace the act of picking. These are documents of a month and a week in that life.
“Subject A: 7 Days”
March 2012
Concealer, blood, tissue, gold leaf, and hand-spun wool
“Subject A: October 2011”
November 2011
Cocoa butter, aloe vera, thread, tissue, blood, concealer, and lotion
Sigh, I can’t believe that its all over.
Update!
Hope you guys are all doing well!
xo Riley
