How to Stop Skin Picking

Skin picking also is known as Dermatillomania. This compulsive habit to pick one's skin is a form of self-mutilation often brought on by stress. It also can be a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. If left untreated, the picker's skin may become infected and permanently scarred. The need to pick often interrupts the picker's social, work and love life. It becomes a consuming habit that the picker may even be aware of, but cannot bring themselves to stop.

Things You'll Need

• Telephone
• Notebook
• Pen
• Pocket Koosh ball
• B-complex supplement

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Call you doctor and set up an appointment to address the picking issue. Often medication will be prescribed. One medication will help treat any infections or inflammation of the skin, and another medication, usually an antidepressant, will treat the urge to pick.

• 2

  Begin a log of when you feel the urge to pick and when you actually pick. This brings the problem out of the mind and in front of you, on paper. The act of self-monitoring via logging will itself interrupt the picking.

• 3

  Purchase a pocket Koosh ball or similar toy to keep your hands busy when they are usually picking.

• 4

  Take a B-complex supplement daily. The B vitamins have been shown to boost serotonin levels in the brain, which make us happier.