Obsessive Compulsive Skin Picking

Now I am really happy to talk about my Anxiety and Panic Attacks but this is something that is pretty embarrassing for me. As part of my anxiety like someone would bite their nails, smoke, drink or play with their hair I embarrassingly take hundreds of small gouges out of my face. Many days I cannot go to sleep unless there are no bumps on my skin, be it on my face, back, upper arms or chest. I have done this for years and it temporarily makes me feel more relaxed. Some days its worse than others but it something on my list of things to overcome. I am lucky so far that it hasn't left me with scars, but I need to get it sorted before it does.

Why?

It makes me feel temporarily relaxed, sometimes I don't know I am doing it, I want nice smooth skin.

When?

I tend not to do it when wearing make up and in public, I tend to do it in bed, when reading, in the shower or when really stressed out about something.

How does it make you feel?

Sad, annoyed and embarrassed. I would never go out into public without make up on because of it as it makes me look like I have acne and haven't washed despite in many case over cleaning it. It only has temporary relaxing qualities and then I feel a lot worse afterwards as it makes me look horrendous.

What have you tried to overcome it so far?

Well I went through a stage of denial saying it was acne and used all the treatments, from face masks to medication. However, it wasn't getting to the route of the problem. I go through stages when I am like right I am going to stop and use overnight moisturising gloves which really helps and you don't subconsciously do it. But then I have times when I get or life gets hard and I just let myself do it to feel better for a few minutes.  

What would you tell your self when you first started?

Don't ever remove a blemish or blackhead leave it, cover it up and it will go away. If you need to use treatment then do but don't over use it. Once you start you wont be able to stop.


What do you do to cover it all up?

If I hadn't learnt to cover it up so well I think I would have sorted it out quicker as I don't want other people to see. However, I am past the initial stages and it has turned into a type of OCD so need to cover it with make up. You can see the difference make up makes above. I first cleanse my skin with Simple Cleanser (No Picture), then use Olay complete Care (Sensitive) as I have fair and oily skin this works really well. I then use Dainty Doll Foundation Number 3 and this covers the majority of the redness. The I then apply Dainty Doll Concealer Number 2 (This has discontinued but you may be able to still get it) using either a cotton bud or concealer brush, I use the brush as I like the idea of painting my face. Then I use Rimmel Stay Matte Powder 001 and a powder brush to get rid of the shin on my face. Then I apply Miss Sporty Blusher 002 to add a youthful and healthy glow to my face. Sometimes I apply a bright lipstick or gloss to remove attention from my skin and to my mouth.

How did you stop doing this?

Well I haven't done anything about it properly yet but defiantly will this year, so any tips?