So embarassing…but skin picking, anyone?

[Anonymous]

jeneticallymodified i definately relate well to you, with my OCD behaviours. Its almost spooky

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[Anonymous]

well, i guess if we’re gonna be deemed completely batshit crazy by mainstream society for having both ADD and OCD, we might as well get a bit of the allure of the paranormal along with it.

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[Geoduck]

I totally thought this was because I’m a primate. Never occurred to me it might be ADD. All my women friends do this. It got worse after I had a kid. I was constantly “grooming” the baby, picking off any little thing that comes in sight. So were the other new moms. Are we sure it’s ADD? It would make biological sense to be a picker once you become a mom. Babies can’t remove their own things (oh that sounds so gross now that mine are older). We would joke about it and consider it fine as long as you don’t eat what you find, like a chimp. LOL!

However, I do tend to attract fellow ADDers to myself. Maybe I had inadvertently surrounded myself with ADD moms. Not a bad way to go, I suppose. Or maybe all new moms are ADD, at least for the duration of infancy. That might be good self preservation, now that I think about it.

Unfortunately, I can’t blame being a mom. I’ve always been a picker. I really did think it was a girl thing, but now that I see some guys on here fessing up to it, I’m going to have to rethink the whole thing.

I’ve definitely been doing this forever, way before I treated my ADD. My doctor did warn me about the adderall making me want to pick at things. I don’t know that it’s made things anymore worse, though.

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[caper]

I’ve read about ADD & trich/OCD. Here’s one page on it:

http://www.theaspergersconnection.org/courses/esimplications/difficulties.html

In my case the Aspie + ADD connection fits too. Fortunately none of the bad stuff for me like depression.

AQ score: 31

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

EQ: 5 2nd time: 9

http://homepage.mac.com/lpetrich/Asperger/EmpathyQuotient.html

SQ: 60

http://homepage.mac.com/lpetrich/Asperger/SystemQuotient.html

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[Anonymous]

There’s a really interesting book called Grooming, Gossip & the Evolution of Language by Robin Dunbar. Fascinating theory about how humans developed language and gossip as and advanced form of mutual grooming (plus tons of other stuff).

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[Anonymous]

I’ve been biting my nails since I was 3 and I’m 46 now. I pick my scalp and have always beena scab picker, zit popper, or popper of other people’s zits (okay–boyfriends when I was younger, my spouse, my kids). That is just so gross to admit! My fingernails are permanently damaged and have weird shapes because I’ve bitten them so far back. That fingernail stuff to prevent biting doesn’t taste as bad as my fingernails taste good! My mom tried that more than once!

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[caper]

I find chewing gum helps.

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[billd]

tried gum – I get all hyper and anxious until I get rid of it.

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[Cat Alberts]

Another aha moment. Luckily I gave up nail biting when I was 10, but the cuticles, inside of my mouth and popping zits is a regular thing. I think it is a stressreliever, because when I am happy I tend not to do it, but years of picking have left me with blotchy skin on my upper arms and shoulders. But yes, maybe it is a self-grooming thing. Maybe if I ask someone close to give me a massage or something, the urge might get less intense.

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[Anonymous]

Wow!! Me too!!! I am always breaking out more than I should be cuz I have to SQUEEZE everything little thing on my face!!! And it sounds nasty but popping is like a rush!

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[Anonymous]

When I was bored in class, I used to rub at my upper lip with my nail until I had a blister. Or I would use my teeth to rub at a bony part of a finger until a blister developed. I also pick anything and everything – dermatitis, nails, blisters, hair, nose, pimples, lips, scabs, head, sunburn (ooooohh, sunburn :mrgreen:). I cannot leave my skin alone.

My ADHD son is more of a larger scale fidgeter (not so discrete), and never picks his nails – he’d be lucky if he remembered to CUT them!!! He is more into the gum, tapping, pen clicking, leg jiggling, doodling, “tongue origami”, and just generally fiddling with things in his surroundings.

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[Philabuster]

Well I finally found something which keeps me from biting my nails (guy). My nails have not been this long or healthy in 20 years.

I tried the bitter anti-bite nail polishes recently, besides feeling girly putting the stuff on, they were not real effective after the second day. I had to constantly reapply the stuff as it would peel off, which then further enticed me to bite more. I did notice as soon as I put the polish over the rough nails, my desire to bite disappeared as there were no more rough edges to catch my attention.

I tried several different clear nail polishes, which worked better, but I was still reapplying it frequently to eliminate the rough spots.

We went to a beauty store (instead of the grocery store) in search of a professional product. The lady recommended China Glaze. I bought the strong adhesion base coat and the fast forward top coat ($5 for each).

I put the stuff on and noticed it flowed and dried better than the cheap stuff. Later I noticed I was still biting and scratching my teeth on my nails, but this time, it was different. The coating was VERY hard. My teeth could not catch an edge or scrape any polish off. The old polish was dead soft in comparison. I can easily scratch a plastic pen body with my teeth, but this stuff was real hard. I can probably use my fingernails as a screwdriver now. lol.

I also found to eliminate the girly shine, I can wash my hands and scrub my nails with a scotch brite pad from the kitchen to dull the finish after the finish dries for a while. The stuff will take on a matte finish like regular nails, but will not come off with anything besides nail polish remover. I was using contact cleaner in the shop and the polish was still on. I did find out that brake fluid will eat the polish, but brake fluid will strip paint off a car anyway.

The stuff lasts me about 5 days without doing anything. It does not chip or flake off. Great stuff. I reapply more (without stripping) when the cuticle grows out a bit. Been using it for 10 days now and I just bought more to make sure I have it stashed in several locations as insurance.

I still put my teeth to my nails, but now nothing happens.

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[Anonymous]

sadly i have done this for years …anything from scabs to pimples since i was a kid and my OCD has been nuts since i was a little kid…sadly they have never connected OCD iwth ADHD/ADD but i believe they are connected..

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[RitaFaye]

Another nail biter and skin picker here. I only bite my nails a lot when I’m anxious, but I’ve substituted destroying them with nail clippers instead.

As for my skin, fortunately I never had a huge acne problem. I do however, have folliculitis all over my upper arms and the backs of my legs. It produces lots of lovely bumps and ingrown hairs, which make more bumps and I cannot leave them alone. Drove my mom crazy.

I feel like I’m sensitive to how my skin feels. Sometimes I know a bump is there before I see or feel it.

My dad picks at sores too, and his mom did also but not as bad as I do.

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[Patte Rosebank]

On a related gross habit, there’s some doctor in Australia who has discovered that eating your own boogers is like exposing yourself to nature’s own immunizations. Apparently, because your nasal secretions trap dust, debris, germs, and bacteria, if you then eat those nasal secretions, your body is being introduced to those germs & bacteria in very small amounts, which then stimulates your auto-immune system to fight those nasty things and build up an immunity.

Kind of makes you wonder what would possess that doctor to do such a study in the first place. Was he trying to find a justification for his own mucophagia (the scientific term for eating boogers)?

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[Author]

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