I am an obsessive picker...SOMEone Help Me! - Acne Message Board

07-04-2002, 11:24 PM

I have a huge problem with picking at my zits..or sometimes nothing! It is the only reason why my face really ever looks bad. My acne is pretty mild..I would say 5-10 blemishes a week, that can heal quickly to wear m face is clear. But for some reason I can not stop picking at them. Sometimes I will pick at a zit and squeeze the S$^% out of it until i got my self a big wound that sticks around for a week or so..and its a cycle I cannot get out of for some reason. I will wake up and I will see a red spot on my face that it not ready to be popped and I will start meesing with it until I get all the puss out. I get into like a zone when Im picking at it...not thinking or caring what it is going to do to my face. Luckily I do not have much for scars..a coulpe or red spots that are fading and are not noticeable..But I need to learn to stop doing this so i can live my life normally. Can someone tell me how to stop this! and that old stop looking at mirror idea isnt going to work..might as well ask me to stop breathing. But please any suggestions would be great. Thank you

JustPeachy · 07-05-2002, 12:15 AM

I am the EXACT same way. I will pick at something that isn't ready yet either. Sometimes it just looks like there might be something there and I pick at it whether it is ready or not. I have an obsession with this and I have tried so hard to stop. Sometimes I will pick at the same zit ten times in one day. It drives me nuts! I just can't let it go....it is like I just want to see how bad I can get it just to watch it heal. But then I am so mad at myself for what I have done to my face that I just cry! It is just a vicious cycle.

I don't know how to tell you to stop because I am still trying to stop doing this myself. I don't know, maybe try rewarding yourself with something nice if you can go a whole week without touching anything on your face!!

MarifromPR · 07-05-2002, 05:14 AM

Im the same too. Its called phsycogenic excoriation. They say its about to be qualified as a symptom of OCD. Refered also as Compulsive Skin Picking. I hate this **** buts its definetly out of control for me

dsheldon3 · 07-05-2002, 08:22 AM

I do this too sometimes when I have some closed ones that are not responding to any treatment and have been their too long.I also do it to relieve the itch because sometimes when you get the stuff out of them they itch less and seem to heal faster.When I find myself getting over compulsive what I will do is cut my nails really short.Works every time.

livenlearn · 07-05-2002, 09:14 AM

hey guys !! i used to be a compulsive picker too.... i never understood when someone would try to help me and tell me ... "JUST DON'T PICK".... let them go and they will heal.... i didn't listen.... and i have a few scars from it..... luckily not too too bad... just a couple... but, still ... if i HAD listened.. i wouldn't have any...... so, now, i've gotten the acne completely under control.... i rarely get a zit.... but, if i do... i leave it be.... it heals itself.... and no scar.... i know it's hard when you're dealing with looking at all these pimples on your face... but, really.... when u pick .. u inflame it even more and make it worse... next time you want to pick... just tell yourself not to... and DON'T.... that may cut down at least 1/2 of what you pick...