i dread the day any man sees me naked

here are some suggestions i have for you that are working for me:

1. keep a relapse journal. every time you pick, mark the date and time and severity. you could rank it on a scale of 1-10 on how bad it was if you want.

you could also write down your feelings and why you felt triggered. this way you might begin to identify when you feel the desire to pick.

2. everytime afterwards, wash the areas well with body soap or body wash – not soap used for handwashing. if you have acne, use antibacterial washes once or twice a day preferably while showering. not more frequently because it will dry out your skin.

3. dry off with a towel then apply a healing ointment. try plain vaseline, it says white petroleum jelly on the tube, and then cover it up with a gauze pad bandaid. if the wounds are on your back though it’s too difficult to do this unless you ask someone else to help.

4. then leave it alone. reapply the vaseline and a new bandage at night before you go to bed, and then shower in the morning and put it on again afterwards. once the wounds have healed over and look pink or reddish, try polysporin instead of vaseline.

5. it also helps to wear clothing that covers up all the places you like picking. so if you focus too much on your legs, wear light pants instead of shorts. or a light long-sleeve shirt for your arms.

6. if you feel anxious or the need to pick, or start touching your skin, then grab onto something else you can hold instead. or you can get up and exercise or go on a walk to take your mind off, or take a shower and put on clean clothes, or go around other people. just anything that will distract you enough to forget about your skin.

7. and if you mess up, then do what i said above. but the goal is to re-train your mind so that picking is no longer a compulsive coping method for anxiety and becomes something you don’t want to do because you know the damage it causes your body.

8. set goals for yourself. a few days without picking. a week. two weeks. a month. write these dates down on sticky notes and put them up on the wall in your room to remind yourself. if you mess up, change the dates to begin from that day.

9. once you’ve reached a goal of not picking for a period of time, make an appointment with a dermatologist. they will tell you anything else you need to know about healing your skin and your scars and what treatments they would recommend.

10. there are also group sessions for people who struggle with compulsive disorders and OCD. you could ask a doctor’s office if they know of any that you can join.

11. one more thing. certain foods and vitamins and minerals heal skin quicker. Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and protein and so on. if you aren’t sure if you are consuming enough of these talk to a nutritionist.