BFRB Awareness. Dermatillomania recovery tips ans tricks.
This year again I missed “BFRB AWARENESS WEEK” (October 1-7, 2017) Bringing awareness to Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors such as Trichotillomania, Dermatillomania (Excoriation Disorder), and other coinciding BFRB’s.
However, I’d like to share some tips and tricks that helped me personally to conquer Dermatillomania. I hope these would be useful :)
The most important rule is to watch yourself carefully and learn your habitual patterns. I suggest you to write down every time you pick your skin for 1 week.
what you were doing right before that happened
what you were feeling right before that happened
what you were feeling right after that happened
In about a week you will 100% know what situations cause you to turn to skin picking. You will learn your triggers. You will also understand your inner alarm, warning you about upcoming picking session. You will recognize your feelings and you’ll notice that dermatillomania doesn’t help to cope with any of them at all. You will also realize that afterwards feeling of guilt and shame sucks a lot and not worth the “zone-out” seeming peace.
2. “If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist”
Now, when you know your triggers, avoid them at all costs.
The general rule is - you don’t see your skin - you don’t pick on your skin.
If you know, that you tend to pick right after you get out of the shower - get dressed immediately. Set an alarm, that will only allow you to have a shower, and that you can only turn off AFTER you get fully dressed.
If you know, that you tend to pick after workouts, for example, you’re stretching and you just pressed your nose against your legs and your mind goes “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT” - wear long leggins, long socks, cover every inch of your skin, don’t look at it at all.
If you pick your face - change the lamp near the mirror, make it terribly dim. Put a desk in front of the mirror, so you can’t come close enough to pick.
Make it as difficult to pick on your skin, as humaly possible.
Find something that works for you - fidget toys, spinners, watching TV, listening to mucis, writing, dancing. Run to your family, make a conversation with them, you can’t pick around them anyway. Talk to your friends. Scream. Pretend that you’re a possum and hiss at your mirror image. I mean, do whatever the fuck you need to do.
If you’re 100% sure, that you’re going to pick and even pretending to be a possum didn’t help, do this:
Get some healing ointment. It should be thick and opaque and, desirably, it should have healing properties. Mark all the spots you want to pick with the ointment. Tell yourself, you’ll pick them as soon as you’d be finished. Now look at your skin, all spots covered under the thick layer of the cream. Think about what you could have done to your skin, but you didn’t. Imagine them irritated, inflamed, bleeding - but now your skin is safe and recovering. Feel fucking proud. Feel amazing about yourself. Feel awesome about giving your skin a much needed time to heal.
5. Get in love with your skin.
Quote from Night Vale twitter that helped me a lot:
“You have nice skin. It really holds in all your blood and organs - no leaking or nothing. You look great.”
Sometimes you might feel frustrated and angry about how your skin looks. You might feel like you’re going to have this marks forever, like your skin is your main source of stress and disappointment.
The truth is - you skin is an amazing organ. Your skin is so awesome and it loves you. It works so hard to protect you from and outside dangers. It’s doing its best every day. It recovers and heals up all the time. Your skin is your best friend. It asks you for help, for a little support. Join forces and beat dermatillomania’s ass! You’re totally capable of this. Apologize to your skin, feel sorry for hurting it, for hurting yourself. It’s time to heal.
As a rule of a thumb - your skin needs to be cleansed 1-2 per day, peeled 1-2 per week and moistured daily. This has a lot to do with #4 and #5. Imagine, how your skin is healing up under the scabs. It’s working really hard and you need to help it gently. Letting your body do the work is good AND you can fasten the process a lot. If there are certain activities, that irritate your skin and cause you to pick - stop doing them for a while. Stop shaving, wearing tight clothes, tanning, if necessary. Avoiding straight sun is recommended, while your skin is healing up.
From my personal experience (I had this for 5-6 years) - it took me 1 year to gradually stop picking at all. In half a year I saw a great progress in my skin condition. In 1 year all spots, minor scars and hyperpigmentation faded away at least 50%. In 2 years I can’t find almost any evidence of former lesions, like srsly.
You’re not alone, you’re strong, smart and amazing and in time you’ll be free of your bfrb. On this way you’ll become wiser, more informed and more confident. You’re able to do this. 100% true.
blakekathryn
dededos
germansingergirl
origamiaround
stormborns
turnnoffyourmind
