If you have a hair pulling or skin picking - you need to know this

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➼ Do I have hair-pulling disorder?
➼ Do I have skin picking disorder?
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– – – Disclaimer – – –
For information purposes only. Does not constitute clinical advice. Consult your local medical authority for advice.

[Faythe]

My boyfriend won’t stop pointing it out when I pick my skin. It’s making my anxiety and shame worse. I try to tell him this isn’t helping me but he won’t stop.

[a-warthog]

I struggle with self-harm and skin picking which has lead to this endless cycle of harming and picking scabs and keeping wounds open for weeks. It helps knowing I'm not alone in these behaviors... its hard to not feel extremely ashamed but I'm trying to be kind and understanding to myself like I would a friend.

[TPaigeRobby]

I dont feel embarrassed. I just feel pain. Currently bleeding from it. Its REALLY gonna hurt to walk tmw

[ms.sherlock]

I took all the mirrors out of my house and have one only one compact mirror and keep it far enough from face to check my lipstick twice a day - I don't allow myself to bring it close to my skin. For me, I have figured out what circumstances triggered the compulsion. What made me determined to stop was the very real fear of getting an unstoppable blood infection and losing a limb or death. I believe my Continued picking for years lowered my immune system gradually. I stopped by taking that compulsive energy and channeling it into anything neutral or (preferably) productive - cleaning, play doh, silly putty, modeling clay, painting my home, just painting and drawing, embroidery. Picking stole so many hours of my life that I finally said that I won't allow to steal one more minute of the finite hours of my life!

[GwishinSong]

I think the main issue with telling people who skin pick to 'just allow yourself to do it' is that it can cause things like infections. It's not one of those harmless habits that you can always just let yourself do; if it's bad enough and you don't know how to properly take care of the results - it can hurt, a LOT. Having open wounds all the time like that is not good and if not taken care of correctly it can lead to infections

[nanetten]

I never thought I would hear this from a therapist, but this is absolutely true and makes a lot of sense. I have been skin-picking for 50 years, sometimes just a little, and sometimes out of control. Many times I have stopped and started again. However, if I don't feel out of control it doesn't bother me that much (I like the idea of 30%). After all this time I do feel like this habit is a part of my personality and don't want to lose the habit completely. There, I admitted it. Maybe that's why I've never been able to stop completely, and now a therapist I respect is saying "you're OK as you are". Genius, thank you!

[AnnularFrisson]

Thanks for this. I've gone through periods where this has completely ruined my life, including one that lasted almost a year. It's a spectrum that can be a mild annoyance, or an incredibly serious problem. I'll never be totally rid of this but it doesn't interfere greatly with my life at this point.

[Libbylg]

Bitten the inside of my mouth for 9 years and pull out my hair and never realised it could be ocd. Defo an anxiety thing now but I just did it as a habit back then

[JennaRose]

I’ve been free of self harm for 7 years but didn’t realize I’ve replaced it all this time with picking and pulling hair.

[lemonstraws]

You are the best My intrusive thoughts are gone thanks to u I started to agree with the thoughts but not care and I sad ya totally, maybe maybe not let's do maybe I will, etc and that got rid of it it still happens time to time but it's way better love from Canada

[blwlmnswg]

watchin this video while doin the exact brfb skin picking thing

[lailanitukuafu]

I live in a super dry area and I'm horrible at drinking enough water, so my lips are almost always chapped. The textural difference bothers me because of sensory stuff. I started picking at my lips really young and haven't been able to stop since. At this point, it's an automatic stim and I don't even notice when I'm doing it most of the time. My lips bleed often because of it and I have some mild scarring. I want to stop so I can have healthier lips/skin

[kellibabb]

When you said what the secret was, my anxiety shot way up. My skin picking caused my oncologist to prescribe antibiotics. I pick around my cancer related scars.

[opencurtin]

I pluck the hairs on my fingers i pull them out with my teeth or a tweezers, Im doing it since 1987 when I was very nervous in school .

[immaisuradze]

Natham peterson, can ocd thoughts be about anything you love? Like i love animals but recently my ocd was coming up with "you hate animals"

[myphone-phhh]

Hi I was hoping you could do something on stress related OCD where it goes away or mostly for long periods of time but comes back when life gets stressful? Thanks for your time.

[lonup]

Hello . I am from Iran and I have a problem with hair and skin pulling. In Iran, international currency accounts are not supported and there is no way to pay. Also, the amount of 217 dollars is my salary for several months. And I do not have the ability to pay such an amount. Do you have a solution for that? I will be very grateful

This disease hurts me a lot and I suffered a lot of personal and social problems. I hate myself and I don't like my appearance at all. I don't know what your beliefs are, but I promise to make it up to you in any way I can

[mahraalkaabi]

I went to therapy a couple of times, but most of the therapists are saying that hair-pulling disorder will be extremely hard to treat without medications, do you believe this is true based on your clinical experience?

[Michaelajane]

I have done it all my life, I'm now 31 I don't know if I will ever stop and if I want to stop or not.
I do both skin-picking and my hair story is I always 9 times out of 10 in the day I fiddle or plait, unplait, plait my hair until I feel better. I do it when depressed, stressed, anxious or sad.

My mum tells me to stop all the time but it makes me want to do it all the more.

The most I've gone without doing any of them is 2 days.

I'm so confused about it but you videos are helping a lot.

Thank you.😊

[LonesomeLalo]

Hello Nathan, I have begun punching myself in my arms and legs as a compulsion. I feel like I need to prove to myself that the thoughts I have are bad and the physical action seems to ‘help’ with that. What does this mean?