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Other Dermatillomania

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Obv I'm not gonna bleed to death, cos eh, I could peel literally all my skin off (to this extent) and not die. My issue is that it's clearly something I've done to myself, and I gotta hide that shit if I wanna keep my job, and I gotta keep my job if I want to not totally lose my shit.

Either way, I've decided I actually give no shits either way, so thanks anyway though.
 
I used to do this. I had absolutely no awareness that I was doing it until I could feel pain or blood and it caused a lot of shame and embarrassment for me. I suspect I replaced it with smoking back in the day when that was a good idea.

It's a tough one and I am sorry. I imagine that picking up new nervous habits would help just as smoking helped mine. I am by no means saying give smoking but maybe try to get hooked on finger drumming or fidgeting with rings or a watch?? Just when you feel anxiety coming on try the new behavior or switch over when you catch yourself.

Ultimately, I am sure that anxiety is the root cause, so obviously finding a way to lower your stress level ought to help but back here in the real world where that usually takes some time, I really think trying to swap it out for something else might help. I've been a fingernail chewer, one of those people who pulls out face and body hair, a smoker, a pencil chewer, a picker, etc. Now I chew on small sticks of wood such as toothpicks and mint flavored dental picks and chronically twist my rings around my fingers. I had to make a conscious effort to change a lot of behaviors but the need for some anxious habit remains.

Best of luck to you. It's hard to change behaviors we don't even realize we are engaging in.
 
yeh
i get it
i do the same:

issue
no solution cuz too focused on problems
thanks anyways tho
im good, i'll figure it out

maybe if we can manage to get our heads out of our own asses we'd stop having so many "issues"
 
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