Anyone have a body-focused impulse control disorder? E.g. trichotillomania, skin picking, nail biting.

I'm a skin picker. I've been doing it since I was a toddler (20+ years), but I'm making a huge effort to stop at the moment.

Anyone else?

I am a skin picker-trying to stop too, but my very dry skin makes it so hard.

Solutions?
Foot file-I have thought about an orbital sander :eek:
diabetic foot creams-they really work
wearing socks after lotion
manicure and pedicure in a minute products-very nice
soak in a bath-then use apricot scrub-it really helps remove the excess skin while moist leaving much less skin to pick later on.
Scraping your feet with an old table knife after a bath. Nothing sharp-it just gets the dead stuff off that is just sitting there. I think skin scraping is an ancient practice-oiled skin and scraping-when they didn't bathe often if ever.

This is my confession of the day folks.

Hi RADDmom!

but my very dry skin makes it so hard.Me too.

Is yours mainly on your feet? I do a little on my feet but mostly arms and upper back. Also, it is mostly when reading or at nighttime. I'm trying to wear gloves at night. But when I wake up in the morning, one of them is always off. I really need to find some gloves that can't be yanked off during sleep.
I also carry bubble wrap or something else that feels nice and that I can fiddle with, in my pockets at all times. Seems to help a bit.

I bite the insides of my mouth all the time.

And if my hair gets too long, Im a hair plucker...... and I dont mean the hair on my head.:o

Skin picker, scab puller, zit popper, hair plucker extraordinaire. :o Gave up the nail biting for a chick a few years ago. Nothing like a little TMI!!! :faint:

SD

Skin on my feet and hands-so dry it gets crisp and peels.

It it is on your back and upper arms-could be skin reaction to detergent-get one marked scent free. Use a loofah scrubber in the shower and alpha hydroxy lotion on your skin. Occasionally use an apricot scrub. The get rid of all those bumps and flakes that drive me wild. At least temporarily.

I just need to get in the lotion habit-I am not good at developing habits-never smoked, or anything like that, this is really the only one I have. and I really need to reduce how much I pick my fingers in public.

RADD

Lexipro seems to help a little. Clomipramine is supposed to work, but it gave me a very bad reaction. As it is, I have to take another medication to block the Lexipro's bad side effect.
But I agree, finding something that prevents the zits (or dry skin or whatever) is a big help. But some things are supposed to be there (hair, eyebrows).
I'm also trying some cognitive tricks--like catching myself in the act and then trying to make myself think about how I will feel as a result of performing the ritualistic behavior.

I have the trichotillomania. When I was nine I had zero eyelashes. My eyelashes still tend to run on the thin side due to the plucking. I also had a recent bout of hair pulling at the hairline on my forehead. Luckily the lack of some hair is able to be hidden with careful haristyle. Huge downfall is that I am too embarrased to go to hairdresser for the cut I really need.

I try to fight all of this. I notice I normally do it when I am watching TV or reading a book so I am trying to keep a close eye out during those times...

I also have recently been biting the inside of my mouth. I didn't think about that until I read what superdave wrote.

All I gotta say is all of this makes me miserable. I take Fluvoxamine for OCD and it has helped with alot of my compulsive habits, but has failed with these. I read somewhere that medication isn't helpful for these behaviors and that the only thing that truly works is paying close attention and breaking the habit.

I am a skin picker-trying to stop too, but my very dry skin makes it so hard.

Solutions?
Foot file-I have thought about an orbital sander :eek:
diabetic foot creams-they really work
wearing socks after lotion
manicure and pedicure in a minute products-very nice
soak in a bath-then use apricot scrub-it really helps remove the excess skin while moist leaving much less skin to pick later on.
Scraping your feet with an old table knife after a bath. Nothing sharp-it just gets the dead stuff off that is just sitting there. I think skin scraping is an ancient practice-oiled skin and scraping-when they didn't bathe often if ever.

This is my confession of the day folks.
I am prone to badly calloused feet. I recently discovered "Mr Pumice" it has worked miracles! Well that and hardcore foot lotion. I tried the metal file, but found it didn't work as well as some type of pumice stone. Of course I recommend soaking the feet first and then use the pumice.

I thought I was the only one! I feel like I can't control my finger picking around the nail area. They get so sore and hurt that I buy alot of neosporin with lidocaine and bandaids! :eek: I walk around with bandaids on most of my fingers. I even tried fake nails and it worked for awhile, but I wound up picking them off. I wonder if my add meds contribute to the problem? I'm so found this thread, it will help me remember not to pick.

I pick at my scalp. I have done this for years and it is usually worse when I am under stress or in a period of high anxiety.

I used to pick my scalp too when very anxious. Sometimes I could'nt even color my hair or get a haircut because of it.

Washing my hair frequently stops me from getting zit-like bumps so I'm not tempted to pick at my scalp.

I pick at my scalp. I have done this for years and it is usually worse when I am under stress or in a period of high anxiety.
Me too, only that's when I pick my fingers, like now I'm under ALOT of stress living with an emotionally abusive man and my fingers are very sore, I also started to pick my scalp again, which is not a good thing. I have to go to work today for 8 hours ( I work 40 hours a week) and I'm praying for God to get me through the day without bursting out crying because he upset me very bad yesterday. I really need help.:(

Me too, only that's when I pick my fingers, like now I'm under ALOT of stress living with an emotionally abusive man and my fingers are very sore, I also started to pick my scalp again, which is not a good thing. I have to go to work today for 8 hours ( I work 40 hours a week) and I'm praying for God to get me through the day without bursting out crying because he upset me very bad yesterday. I really need help.:(

There's a book that I'm reading called "Emotional Blackmail" by Susan Forward that has been really helpful to me in dealing with people in my life who are emotionally abusive. There are many reasons why people with ADD and/or other conditions stay in abusive relationships way too long. This book has helped me to see what my parts are in the situation (because it does take 2) and is giving me the ability to stand up to the abuse and eventually end it one way or another. God bless, Liz. I know it's hard but you don't have to live with abuse.

There's a book that I'm reading called "Emotional Blackmail" by Susan Forward that has been really helpful to me in dealing with people in my life who are emotionally abusive. There are many reasons why people with ADD and/or other conditions stay in abusive relationships way too long. This book has helped me to see what my parts are in the situation (because it does take 2) and is giving me the ability to stand up to the abuse and eventually end it one way or another. God bless, Liz. I know it's hard but you don't have to live with abuse.\
Thanks Dave. Your absolutely right, it does take two, and I am slowly learning to distance myself from the abuse. I have to do this while living here due to financial issues. I just started back to work in May and am not financially independent yet. Thanks again for the advice and encouragement and I will get that book you recommended. Liz

Liz, there's a Proverb that says something about it being better to live on the corner of a rooftop than in a house with a contentious mate.

I'm a skin picker and a hair plucker! Pulling one strand at a time and pulling slow is a big stree reducer for me. I have plucked my underarms bald 3 times this summer. My husband hates this about me, espc the picking. He says there is nothing there but I always get white thick stuff out of the back of myarms. I don't even relize I'm doing this. I have pulled a spot of hair in my crown that I now have to part my hair in a weird spot.

...Pulling one strand at a time and pulling slow is a big stree reducer for me....Me too. Fortunately it's one "habit" that hasn't overwhelmed me. Too busy with others.

My husband hates this about me, espc the picking. He says there is nothing there but I always get white thick stuff out of the back of myarms. ....My mother always used to say that I was picking at nothing and that I didn't have acne like my sister did. In reality it was just that I picked at everything so obsessively (and compulsively) that she never got to see what I was picking at.
My ex-husband never said anything about it; I used to wish he would save me from my picking.
In the end no one else's opinions of our problem really matters.

Hi,

I was reading your posts and I found an interesting site on the topic of skin picking. It is actually a condition, and it has a name. Hope this helps! :)

http://www.childadvocate.net/Skin-picking_and_Self-injurious_Behavior.htm

i chew my tongue on occassion -- usually i wake up and i have bitten an area and then cant stop touching that area with my teeth which sort of hurts but feels good in a weird way.

i was a terrible pen chewer - everyone noticed i used to do that. this seems better on my add meds i don't chew pens anymore - when i started my add meds i stopped doing that. and i think i just broke the habit. again that habit felt good in a way. i am not the most perfect on my add meds and go on and off on occasion its hard for me to believe i have it sometimes and i don't like stigma of taking meds. but i noticed that even when off meds i don't chew pens anymore - i think in some way broke that habit.
i will bite nails occasionally but put on fake nails to stop doing that --- i don't bite my fake nails. i do another obsessive thing though i also like to push on the inside of my nails. like put one nail inside another nail and push in to the quick i guess - it gives that pain but it feels good. this is something i do again but others don't know it. it has that pain but feel good feeling like the biting thing.

i have told my doctor about these things i do that cause pain but feel good and he said that this is a way of turning yourself on not sexually but mentally. that by hurting yourself in a way that feels some what good turns your mind on mentally in a focused way. similar to what add meds do - focussing your mind so you can concentrate better. i wonder if some of the others on here are in some way self medicating thru doing this habit. in a way it turns there mind on similar to what ritalin would do and then stop the habit ---- some other add meds are supposed to be better for this.

Pick at my feet
Used to be a nail biter years ago, but stopped because I wanted nice fingernails. Sometimes it still gets tempting
I am a scalp picker too, I usually do this when I am extremely tired. I also do this to my boy-friend when we are sitting watching movies tv, etc. It helps me relax the thoughts in my head. I can't believe he lets me lol! What a guy.

I feel like while I am doing that, I can think clearer. I feel better.

I have very few eye lashes and a shaved head.I have had trichotillomania since I was 9 years old. Tried all the SSRIs and several other meds. No real success yet.

The only time I have ever had no desire to pull out my hair was during the last month of my pregnancy and it lasted for a total of 3 months. :D

My guess is that it had something to do with that breast feeding/orgasm hormone.

Does anybody remember the name of it? That was some good stuff. I wanted to keep on breast feeding, but at about 13 months, my DD decided she had better things to do with her time. TMI? :o

Unfortunately, I have excessive facial hair too, so I had to shave my jaw area, chin and neck every 2-3 days. :mad:

I have had my hormone levels checked a few times and they are always normal.

God only knows how these delicate yet durable, highly complex machines we call our bodies work. :confused:

If you have jawline hair like that, you likely have a high DHEA-s level. Ask your doctor about it. It is an androgen precursor.

NB. stimulants tend to make repetitive actions like picking or hairpulling worse. they also tend to make obsessive thoor intrusive thoughts worse.

Add me to the list. Pimple popper, scab picking, hair plucking (eyebrows, stray whiskers), skin picker around my nails and my feet.

I unfortunately suffered from horrible acne up until a couple of years ago and am left with scars, thanks in large part to my inability to stop picking.

It sucks.

Oh I have this too. Skin picking.

I inherited it from my mother. It's horrible. I go into a trance like state (like in the article/link above). I can do it for over an hour and then come out of it, thinking what the hell have I done.

Did anyone with these picking/plucking impulses have any luckwith cognative behavior therapy stopping these actions? Medication? Tia!

I skin pick, like, a lot.
Constantly. I do it whenever my hands are free. It calms me and helps me focus and organize my thoughts. I also go into a trance. I space out and just keep picking, sometimes for 30 minutes to an hour.
I tried to stop a couple of months ago, but it just made me go into this really confused and depressed state.

I think the clue is to substitute the picking/plucking behavior for something else. Running, painting, writing, knitting or just simply making anything productive. I've tried fidgeting with Play-Doh, but it's not really the same :rolleyes:

Very interesting about the picking serving as a means of focusing.
Never thought of that.
I'll have to try to notice if I do it more when my thoughts are so scattered I can't decide which one to think.