Can you test yourself for dermatillomania? Dermatillomania is one common name for what is now called excoriation (skin picking) disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). So one way to know if you have it is to read the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5, and see if they apply…
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Can’t leave your fingers alone? This article is for you if you scrape the sides of your thumbs, rip off your cuticles or otherwise mangle your hands. These behaviors, like nail biting, are so common that I notice them all the time. In fact, a few months ago when I was on my way to…
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How annoying is it when someone tells you to “stop picking”? Like when you’re simply sitting next to them “just” watching TV. Whether you’ve been told this by a parent, a significant other, or even by a teacher who shamed you in class with a phrase like, “stop touching your face” or “get your fingers…
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Hi I’m Annette Pasternak, also known as the Stop Skin Picking Coach. Today the topic is going to be “10 Things That I Would Tell My Younger Self” related to my skin picking. (These can be applied to hair pulling as well.) So, I’ve thought about this. There are a whole bunch of things that…
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Picking Scabs Compulsively Do you peel or pick off your scabs over and over and not let them heal? Do you have sores for months at a time that don’t heal because you cannot leave them alone? Maybe you feel like you don’t have any willpower. What you do have is this “need” to make…
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I’m guessing this is the scenario: It’s the start of the new year (or maybe it’s later when you’re reading this), but you’ve already broken your resolution to stop your skin picking habit. Again. Ok, I want you to know firstly that there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s not because you “should” have more will…
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The Dermatillomania Diaries is what I’m naming the decade of journal writing about my skin picking and attempts to stop it, which I’m sharing in this post. I’ve been an avid journal-writer throughout the years, filling a bunch of those college-ruled black and white composition notebooks. It started slowly in my 20’s – I used only one book for…
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