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QuiversWhiskers
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Joined: 25 May 2014
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 616

18 Aug 2015, 5:45 pm

I have dermatillomania. I have bitten and picked at my nails and cuticles since I was a kid. I also pick at my face and have done since middle school or high school. At some point I developed the habit of scalp picking as well. Basically, anything rough or bumpy on my skin gets picked off. It's gotten really, really bad in the last year with increased stress due to all kinds of changes and impending changes. I also have a habit of looking for split ends until I have a headache and feel disoriented. The picking is painful but I like it and bleeding actually encourages it. It's ridiculous. I do it while reading, thinking, listening to the music I am currently stuck on, watching TV, perusing the internet and FB. I do it so often and so badly that my scalp hurts. It is soothing and calming. I am not even fully conscious of it. I stroke my scalp too, running my fingers through the hair follicles and out which isn't hurtful. I need to get my hair cut regularly as I have been getting a lot of split ends and as my hair quality has decreased due to age or something. I hate my hair not being straight and sturdy. The strands break easily. I can't go get my hair cut because I don't think they use Barbicide enough on their tools and don't want to risk getting HIV or something from their tools or wet hands getting on my scalp. This is a stupid paradox I know: make open wounds while I have a fear of contracting some disease. I know this all sounds horrible, but I don't know what else to do. I am embarrassed to bring this up with my therapist and she is about to retire in a few weeks anyway.

I saw on Stimtastic that she has acquired some of those circular, concave poppers that are plastic and slap into the air when inverted. She demonstrated that they can simply be depressed on a smoothe surface and then picked off and suggested that they might be good for someone with picking stims and dermatillomania. I am seriously considering trying those, though I don't expect it to rid me of my problem.

Any ideas or experience stopping or controlling this? I do have one of those scalp massagers but I hate the way it feels and running my fingers through my scalp isn't just about my scalp; it's also a tactile thing for the tips of my fingers. I need to stop blaming shampoo and conditioner for these sores and acknowledge that it is me causing them and that I am not letting them heal because I can't leave them alone. It's also embarrassing when your face starts bleeding in public. And I don't like it obviously when other people pick themselves as I don't want their diseases so it probably bothers them too.


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RDOS Aspie Score: 145 or 144/200 Aspie, 68 or 57/200 NT

Defies categorization. A mixed bag.