Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling) Support Group

Umm.. I'm kinda embarassed to say, but I pick at my self too. And eat it :(. It's my cuticles, inside of my cheeks and scabs on my scalp.

thanks! I was waiting for someone like me to make me feel less crazy!

people dont know how hard it was just to write this discussion!

if there are others I would love to hear from you too!

okay, I have done this for a long time! I thought I was the only one! I pick at my thumbs repeatedly until they bleed. I bite the skin off and chew on it. I hate doing this because my thumbs look all mutilated. My husband always says, "Don't pick!" It's like a security blanket or something.

I pick at little "imaginary" (so my parents say) spots on the tops of my arms, legs and pubic area. I squeeze them then rip the skin till it bleeds. Then I let it scab over and then pick at the scab and keep doing it over and over. I did it really bad the other day and the whole tops of my arms were covered in blood! I hate doing it but cant stop! Thinking about getting faulse nails put on because they are ment to help?! Any one know?!

I do this too, and I know it's really gross and unhealthy, but I still do it. Feeling that pain helps me distract myself from things that worry me and think about something else. I think this is the main reason I do it. I scratch at my scalp the most, too, and scabs form. I can pick at them and no one can see the blood, so I think it's more convenient.
When I'm depressed, sometimes I cut my ankles. I stopped for a whole two years then did it again about a month ago, and the cuts still haven't healed because I keep picking at them. I also have scabs from mosquito bites I got over the summer... I pick at them again and again and thy can't heal. I wish I could stop, because it's embarrassing to wear shorts with all the little scabs on my legs!
Maybe I should get fake nails, but I'm anxious about getting them done professionally because I bite my nails so they're short and stubby.

huh i think I am paddeling this boat....picking is my everyday vice!!! i feel you girl...

please don't feel embarassed to share your true feelings...as you can see you are not the only one. No different that eating your fingernails right? How many times have you seen "normal" people out in this world eating their fingernails let alone their snot!(and I am not talking about people under 3!) YOU ARE NOT WEIRD AND YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

I'm a picker and my shrink told me it's part of my ocd....but I think it's really more part of self injury. I can't handles any little stress.....more stress the more picking I do. Family is always telling me to stop....or giving me a smack to remind me I'm doing it....what can I say I've been a compulsive picker since I was 7 and now I'm 46!

I joined this group because my daughter pulls her hair.. terribly but I have always bit my nails.. It wasn't probably as bad as most of you though, but I just wanted to weigh in about the fake nails.. they do help with nail biting. I have had acrylic on my nails for over 7 years and it definitely has helped me.. every now and then I will find myself trying to bite the fake nail though and every now and then I may break it, but that's very rare. Try the acrylic nails ladies for the nail biting. I don't know what you can do for the skin picking though except maybe keeping alot of lotion or ointment on your skin so your skin is more moisturized.. that may make it harder to pick off and keep bandaids on your wounds. You may also try and put socks on your arms or even keep long pants on so you don't even see your skin when you are in that mode.

Yeah. I am in the exact same boat as you. I'm a sophomore in high school, and kids around school kind of make fun of me because I pull out the hair on my head and I also pick at my skin. I did have fake nails at one point, and that really helped me. They have since come off, and I think I'm going to go and get them done again. All I can say is, don't use tweezers. They make it easier to pull and pick, which is not good. I've also made a few strings of tiny beads to play with (really tiny beads strung on wire works best.) so I can play with those whenever I have an urge to pick or pull. they give the simulation of rough hair, or skin, so when I'm playing with those I'm not hurting myself. Sometimes I forget about the beads and pull or pick, but I've been catching myself doing that, and I grab the beads and play with them. I also got a shorter haircut, which also helps, because I was usually pulling out the shorter hairs on my head. but now they're all shorter, and that has helped as well. as for the pubic area, I shave mine off in the direction that the hair grows. that way, there's nothing to pull. Trich is just the way some people's bodies respond to stress or discomfort. when you pull or pick, it might give off the feeling and comfort of a massage, or even of being caressed like a baby. It's a tough condition to deal with. I've been dealing with it since I was 13. I'd love to talk to you more about it.