I'm sick and tired of picking and picking and, inevitably, destroying the hell out of my skin. If only I were to just leave it alone for about a week, I'd have immaculate, glowing skin. Though due to my nervous habit, I can't seem to stop clawing at my face and I just don't know what to do anymore because it's become an uncontrollable stress reliever. I love the satisfaction of digging into my face and picking at scabs. Obviously this does nothing positive for me. I end up with a bloody face, yet no acne.
That's the tragedy in my situation. I have no acne. I don't get acne. I don't even get pimples. I just pick and pick and pick at my skin, and in the exact same areas. It's a vicious cycle. Scab dries up, I pick at scab, scab dries up, I pick at scab, and so on and so forth for months and months on end.
I look like a meth addict with all these red dots on my face. Unfortunately I'm not one to just grin and bear the disaster I've created, while going on with my day and socializing with others. I simply cannot face other people because I don't want them to look at me. I have shunned myself of all social activities and social outings. In fact, I didn't even go to my prom because of this. I"ve thrown my life away to my face. How absolutely disgusting. And I can't stop, though I know I need to.
I have anxiety problems, depersonalization, and am extremely prone to experiencing multiple panic attacks throughout the day. Whenever I'm feeling anxious, I put my fingers on my face and pick away at all the scabs. I swear to God I'd have the nicest skin if only I just stopped. I need support and genuine advice to help me stop this ridiculous habit once and for all.
Is anyone out there in the same boat? \
I can somewhat relate to what you're saying, the knuckle on my left thumb is what gets my attention though. When I was young I would suck my thumb then I guess when I grew out of that, I started picking and biting at that knuckle. I've always been a nail biter and I pick at all of my cuticles somewhat but my left thumb is so much worse than all the other fingers, people would ask me what was wrong with it because it was so calloused. It has bled many times from it and I would do it without even realizing. It was so ingrained in me I thought I'd never be able to stop. About 7 weeks ago I started accutane and with that comes dry lips so I started using this stuff called bag balm which comes in a tin. After I would apply the balm I'd put the excess on my thumb just to put it somewhere and after a few days it actually looked almost like a normal thumb and I realized I had been picking at it a lot less because of the balm. Now I'd say if my picking at its height was at 10, now it's at 2 and every time I look at it and see how much better it is, it makes me not even want to pick it. I'm also slowly kicking the habit of picking at the rest of my fingers and biting my nails.
Now I've had social issues pretty much my whole life but they were manageable and I'm only now actively working on resolving them which I think has helped with the picking as well. I can't relate in that regard on the level that you describe and I don't know what you have tried to deal with those problems but I'm sure there are plenty of self help books that address what you go through. They might not help but I highly doubt they can make it worse, I've read a couple and they've definitely opened my eyes to some things and I was never the type of person to buy into that stuff. Just something to consider.
As far as a more hands on ( no pun intended ) approach, maybe get a good facial moisturizer or do a mask that will make your face feel refreshed and clean, then put some lotion on it and let your skin heal. Easier said than done, I know, but after the first few days once you start to see improvement, I think it'll get easier and easier not to pick at your face. I hope this helped, if you ever need someone to talk to, feel free to reach out to me or anyone else on here. There's plenty of people willing to help and listen.
I totally know your pain. I've suffered from skin picking for almost 20 years but I've only recently started getting the help I need. I started by reaching out to my family doctor (who is amazing!). She put me on anti-anxiety (SSRI) meds and connected me with a therapist that specializes in OCD (skin picking typically falls under this umbrella). I'm also considering hypnosis. While there is still work to do, things have gotten much better.