Why do people pick the sides of their thumbs until they bleed and hurt?!
Question: Some of my family members do this and I am wondering why? Is this a form of "self mutilation" and are there underlying reasons they do this. I mean have they been victims of sexual abuse, or do they have anxiety. Also, people who bite their nails down to the "quick" all the time. What is all this? Can I get some good answers here?
Answers: Some of my family members do this and I am wondering why? Is this a form of "self mutilation" and are there underlying reasons they do this. I mean have they been victims of sexual abuse, or do they have anxiety. Also, people who bite their nails down to the "quick" all the time. What is all this? Can I get some good answers here?
dermatillomania-compulsive skin picking~~~~~.......Dermatillomania (also known as compulsive skin picking or CSP) is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused.
Disfiguration of the distal and proximal joints of the middle and little fingers.Sufferers of dermatillomania find skin picking to be stress relieving or gratifying rather than painful.
Contents [hide]
1 Habits of dermatillomania sufferers
2 Causes and treatments
3 Synonyms
4 Hyponyms
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Habits of dermatillomania sufferers
Episodes of skin picking are often preceded or accompanied by moments of tension, anxiety, stress, or paranoia. During these moments, there is commonly a compulsive urge to pick, bite, itch, or scratch at a surface or region of the body.
The regions most commonly affected by this are the face, back, scalp, chest and extremities such as the hands, feet, and arms. Symptoms most commonly expressed in these areas are swelling, scarring, and callusing due to damage to the affected region's epidermis.
In the face of these symptoms, most sufferers feel and recognize a need to stop the process but are physically and mentally unable without aid. Additionally, the development of said symptoms is very similar to the expression of trichotillomania, or the compulsive pulling of hair from the body.
Often dermatillomania sufferers find that their disorder intereferes with daily life. Plagued by shame, embarrassment, and humiliation, they will take measures to hide their disorder by not leaving the home, wearing long sleeves and pants in summer, and heavy make-up use for coverage. The disorder is typically found among females more than males.
Causes and treatments
The inability to control the urge to pick is similar to trichotillomania.[1] Recent research suggests that, like trichotillomania, dermatillomania may be an impulse control disorder. This is part of the obsessive compulsive disorder spectrum.[2]
Some sufferers feel that "picking off" pimples or skin abnormalities may rid them of these flaws and help them look more "normal." They feel the pimples they have are not like those of others, but abnormal. In these cases, skin picking may be a symptom of body dysmorphic disorder.[3]
Few mental health practitioners have studied the disease, as many of these cases go unreported, but some individuals have found relief through cognitive-behavioral therapy. Hypnosis and self-hypnosis and meditation have also proven useful for some patients.[citation needed] They are also sometimes prescribed medications, such as those prescribed for obsessive compulsive disorder.
In some cases, removing the major "abnormalities" in the skin may be of some use, particularly if the problem is confined to a particular area such as the feet. In this case, applying a solution consisting of 3% or less of hydrogen peroxide and bandaging the area tightly for several hours will allow most of the dead skin to slough away, leaving a relatively smooth surface that may be protected by a physical barrier from picking for the few days until healing is complete. Solutions of 10% hydrogen peroxide or greater can significantly damage skin .References:
^ http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-b...
^ http://www.brainexplorer.org/ocd/OCD_Rel...
^ http://www.btinternet.com/~david.veale/b... Use a form of occupational therapy, to keep your mind busy. A suggestion, for when you catch yourself doing this. Carry a wide rubber band in your pocket: put it on your wrist; stretch, and release, as a means of reinforcing it, and speeding up the process, re-pocketing it afterwards, but I regard this as being purely optional. It is a habit, which can be unlearned, preferably by replacing it with another, such as worry beads, or a stress ball, etc. This may take 30 - 40 repetitions, to establish. Nailbiting is caused by anxiety, in my opinion. It is related to the above, and trichotillomania (hair pulling).
Im a really bad nail biter and "piker". I do it when im nervous, anxious or stressed and i dont even realise im doing it.
I havent been a victim of sexual absue! :-)
I think its just a unconcious this some people do without even thinking. Unless they know they are doing it and like self-mutilating! lol
Its a very bad habit of mine and half the time i dont realise i do it...
:-)
It may be that they are unleashing their 'mental pain' - whatever kind it may be. Such as anxiety, depression, ect. they should seek professional help.
These are the symptoms of nerveousness, when you think too much
My whole family does it too, well biting the skin on the sides of the nail down till it bleeds.
It's an anxiety thing which becomes habitual.
Some people tap their feet, some bite their nails and some chew their skin probably better than being a wound up nervous wreck all the time!