I hope that everyone is holding out ok in yet another month in the pandemic. There seems to be large gaps in the atmospheres of different countries depending on the vaccination rate, how long the country has been in lockdown, the culture of the country and of course the number of cases.
It gives us hope to see countries with high vaccination rates progressing into more social everyday lives. In Japan, we’re still at 1.9% full vaccination, and the no. of cases are not calming down either, so it still feels like a long way to go before I can feel relaxed spending time with people outside my family.
Either way, it is still a very tough time for so many of us around the world and I want to take a moment to say (to everyone and to myself) that things will get better, we have to hang in there to see what wonderful things are out there after all this.
For me skin picking disorder is closely related to stress and anxiety. And when things get tough or I feel tired, I find comfort in touching somewhere on my face or neck or arm or wherever I can find a small bump that I can fiddle with. But the scars and damages that my fingers leave are honestly more stress-causing than the comfort that we briefly get when we are messing with it.
It’s also got to do with self love and body image. When we’re feeling low, we may not feel as good about our bodies. And the stresses could induce unhealthy eating habits too, which also makes us feel worse about ourselves and look for comfort. Then we pick our skin to feel comfort and also “fix” our body. But it damages us and we feel worse.. you can see the pattern. It’s a vicious cycle, and a difficult one to get out of.
Personally, one way I see it is, when we are already in a state where we have strong urges, the only way to do something about it is to physically stop it. E.g. wear gloves. Turn off the lights so at least you can’t see your skin. Go outside or go to bed (for me I especially get triggered when I’m tired at night). Psychologically telling ourselves ‘don’t do it’ is really not very effective, and it only harms us because when that doesn’t work, we just feel ashamed that we don’t have the will power. It may sound strange but you have to do an intervention on yourself, and be self compassionate, and help yourself be in a situation where you are at less risk.
There’s much more to explore about causes and ways to deal with skin picking, but I’ll stop here for now today. Sending much love to everyone.
