how to break an addiction?

aslafoo@lemmy.zip to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 104 points –

hey i’m not sure the title is accurate but i couldn’t think of anything better

basically i’ve been struggling with skin picking for my entire life

it started small

picking some overhangs and scans around my nails at 6

nothing too serious

as years went by it evolved into pretty severe skin picking, where i wasn’t able to go a day without making a lesion

and recently (like in the past year) the habit developed into full blown dermatilomania

i keep on picking to the point where my lesions can’t heal properly

the worst of it is i started picking skin on my heels to the point where i can’t walk properly anymore and when i do it causes me a lot of pain

it catches up to me in the evening when i’m bored

i’ve been advised to “occupy my hands with something” but what nobody seems to get is that it’s something i do absentmindedly i’m not sure what to do anymore

does anyone have similar experience or am i beyond help at this point ?

have a nice day

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I feel you... For me, it sometimes help, when I notice that I'm doing it, to grab some knitting/stitching project or to grab a Rubix' Cube. But as others said, a specialist would be a good idea.

When I saw your post I remembered a meme I saw on Lemmy, it's kind of sad, but also makes me more aware of it...