I Have Dermatillomania Stories of Experiences

I was shocked and in some ways relieved to see how many people have admitted that they suffer from this little understood condition. I thought I was about one in a million.

I have been going through it for years now and it is...

It's been taking over my life... I have avoided many social interactions because I was ashamed of the self-inflicted red spots on my face. To think that I don't even have acne-prone skin, that I am the one disfiguring myself is...

Ever since I was little, I think about 6 is the age I can first remember my mom trying to make my stop, i have been picking my skin. usually i pick it all off around my fingernails, until it bleeds or until there its too raw to pick and...

Funny someone mentioned flea-picking. My mom is obsessed with it and I have done it too. I had a kitten once who started to avoid me because of it. She got out one day and found her freedom, I guess. I remember also pulling the fuzz...

I have known that I pick at the skin around my fingers since I was 13 years old. I probably did it before that but never noticed. I pick until it bleeds, and I pick until I peel the skin all the way onto my finger print pads and all the...

I recently asked my general practioner for a thyroid test. I was pretty much laughed at for my concern regarding hyperythyroid or hypothyroid symptoms. I just thought it was funny how depression, anxiety, breathing problems, visual...

Heed my words be an advocate for your own health. Within the last year i had been hospitalized for a series of complications regarding my health. Yes it was a pysch ward and I voluntarily admitted myself.The most disgusting aspect of...

Im 17. I have been picking the skin on my fingers for as long as i can remember. I only found out a few months ago that this wasn't normal. I went to a psychologist for other problems and she noticed i had band-aids all over my fingers...

I used to pick (and then bite the little pieces of skin) off my middle knuckles on each hand, but then when a boy said it looked yucky, I stopped for several years. ( stared at 12, stopped at 28).

At 32 I started picking the...

I am only a 16 year old girl, but I know I've already experience a lot of negative emotions for a large part of my life.
Skin picking began when I was only 11. My height was, and still is, mostly the reason why I have been bullied...

I've been picking at my face obsessively for years now, and I really can't see an end to it. I just get this rush from popping every single zit, no matter how small. My skin isn't even that bad, I just end up making it worse because of...

I've lived my entire life picking and miserable. it started when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. my parents always pointed it out, and never thought it was a problem. just a kid picking scabs and will outgrow. I'm now 24 and still...

So, since I found this group, I've been doing pretty good with not scratching so much. I did scratch, (I pick my scalp) but it wasn't really all that bad.. Until recently. This week I've found it especially frustrating. I have had a...

I've been a skin picker since the age of 6, I am now 25. It used to be under control and my anxiety and anger wasn't as bad but after having become a mother my anxiety and stress is through the roof, on top,of battling an eating...

Compulsive skin picking. I HAVE to.
 In the car. In class. When I’m alone. In front of people. I try not to, but sometimes it’s BIGGER than me, and I give in.

I was doing well six months ago. The stress of school, work, and family lately is getting to me though and my face and chest look and feel bad. I haven't been wearing any makeup though, so I'm sort of proud of myself on that count. I'm...

I try to explain to them-
To my sister and my mother-
That dermatillomania is more than what they think-
And it's a vicious circle-
They just don't understand.
They think I'm like a five year old picking at my scabs-
And yes I'm picking...

Once when I was about fifteen the people that owned the house we rented came to visit my dad. They were older than my parents by a generation but were overall friendly people and got along well with my parents. They would often visit...

My parents divorced when I was five years old and I have very few memories of them together. One of those few memories was a particular day that I saw my mom popping pimples on my dad's back. Later on I would wonder if that memory...

I've gotten my hair cut once in the past 4 years because the last time I went, the hair dresser suspected me of having lice because of all the scabs on my scalp.