How do I stop my compulsive scratching?

How do I stop my compulsive scratching?

Techniques that can help minimize the urge to pick or alleviate the picking compulsion, without causing damage include:

1. Wearing gloves during times when picking often occurs, such as before sleep, while watching television, or when feeling stressed or depressed;
2. Keeping fingernails trimmed short;

Why do I obsessively pick at my skin?

People may pick their skin for various reasons. Some may feel compelled to remove perceived imperfections, while others pick in response to stress, boredom, or out of habit. In many ways, skin picking disorder is a repetitive or obsessive grooming behavior similar to other BFRBs, such as hair pulling and nail picking.

How do you stop compulsive skin picking scratching and hair pulling?

The current treatment of choice is called cognitive behavior therapy, an approach that hones in on problematic thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Some of the most successful approaches train patients to recognize what prompts them to pull or pick and replace it with something else, like balling hands into fists.

Is scratching a form of anxiety?

While anxiety may cause itching or make it worse, the reverse is also true. Itching and conditions that cause persistent itching can be a source of anxiety. An article in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews notes that there is an association between chronic itch conditions and higher levels of stress and anxiety.

Can you be addicted to scratching?

Patients with chronic itch, such as those with atopic dermatitis, experience severe itch and a strong desire to scratch. This urge to scratch is the driving force underlying the formation of the itch-scratch-cycle, an addictive and vicious cycle in chronic itch patients.

Is dermatillomania an addiction?

Many people struggling with addiction also have a skin picking addiction, also known as dermatillomania. Skin picking disorders are classified as a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder due to the compulsive nature of the picking.

What is excoriation?

Excoriation disorder (also referred to as chronic skin-picking or dermatillomania) is a mental illness related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is characterized by repeated picking at one’s own skin which results in skin lesions and causes significant disruption in one’s life.

Is trichotillomania linked to depression?

Emotional distress. Many people with trichotillomania report feeling shame, humiliation and embarrassment. They may experience low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and alcohol or street drug use because of their condition.