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How to fight OCD-like symptoms

captainballs

captainballs

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
9,954
Okay be warned, this is gross.


Okay, for the past couple of years ago, I have had this sort of addiction to peeling the skin off the bottom of my big toes. :\ It sucks because sometimes it hurts to walk but as soon as they heel (Freudian spelling slip, too appropriate to EDIT) I do it again... and again... and again. Now that's not even the worst part.

About 4 months ago, I started doing the same thing to my right heel, and it constantly looks like a blister about an inch wide and long. I decide every night that "this is the last time" and then maybe I'll go for a day. But last night I hadn't done it for like a week, and my heel (and toes) were completely healed (not really, but damn better than usual), and there I go: I peeled the skin completely off like there was no tomorrow.

Sometimes (more often than not), it hurts like hell when I take a shower in the morning because of the water touching the sores on the bottom of my feet. Not only that, my shoes hurt when I put them on and it hurts when I walk for about three hours until I get used to it. I've tried putting bandaids on them, but that is almost like 5 HTP as an excuse for someone to keep doing E: they just heal all the more faster and are ready for the next round of destruction.

It's funny how I don't have any noticeable scars... I made sure to pick a spot that could take a whole lot of abuse without anyone ever seeing (weird, symbolic, etc etc.).

Does anyone else have a problem like this? When I was in fourth grade I also used to pull my hair out every day until I seriously looked fucked up and the teacher called my parents. I take xanax probably 5 out of every seven days, if this might have anything to do with it, but only in small doses (1 mg/day MAX).

Any advice on mental tricks I can do to keep myself from doing this?
 
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i have friends with similar issues. one of them picks at the skin on his fingers constantly peeling them back. they hurt like a bitch and make his hands look totally fucked up, but he doesnt care. its like a nervous habit he has, like figeting almost.

we tried to get him to stop, but as soon as his mind stopped concentrating, he;d subconsciously start picking away at them again. he used to say something like u said about just picking it one last time cos its so fucken annoying.

you could try medication? fluoxetine (prozac) is prescribed in low doses for OCD. you could try keeping shoes on at all times. its just a matter of self control and eventually you should just grow out of the habit.

sounds like you could be replacing one nasty habit with another, maybe theres some other emotional issue you need to be facing ? just a thought

good luck
 
Yeah, I had the same problem except it was under my foot kinda near the smallest toe, where the skin is really thick. After I ripped it off quite a few times and went threw some painful walking I started wearing socks more often and that seemed to work a lot, out of sight out of mind. Try some socks it may help, other than that just try to conciously think what your doing and go do something else because I bet it happens when your sitting there being bored.
 
I had the same issue with biting my nails for years, litterally, since I could remember I nawed on the fkers.

I found this Stop N' Grow stuff that you painted on (much like nail polish) and tasted vile, just reminded me not to bite them. Eventually I stopped, now I'm just obsessed with keeping my nails in good shape, funny, once vice to another :)

Maybe you just need some way of reminding yourself not to mess with your heels, but yeah, as suggested, just try and wear shoes all the time, or at the very least, socks.

It takes a few weeks for you to break the habit (I know it took me about 2-3 weeks before I stopped messing with my nails and about 6 weeks total before I could totally stop using stop and grow).

The fact that it hurts you I would have thought would be motivation enough! Just find some way to get it out of sight and out of your mind and a way to remind yourself not to do it.

Maybe grab a stress ball or something else you can fidget with rather than turn your attentions to your heels.

www.thinkgeek.com may have something up your alley :)
 
I gotta stop biting my nails. -_-
I think what you have is more habitual than OCD like, an example of OCD is always having your money in your wallet from least to greatest going from the front to the back and when you open your wallet the two sleeves always face towards you. That's a problem I have :| I think it's more willpower in overcoming this. If you keep at it, you will soon have no need to pick. So keep going!
 
man... and i though 'i' had issues....

does it like really make you squirm when you havnt done it for ages and doing it relaxes you, and like you think about it quite alot..... try hypmotism if it's really that bad, that stuff works a treat for things like that, just ask the hypmotist to make you completely forget about the whole heel thing and do it when you have no scaring there so's not to somehow remind your self afterwards by accident.... fuck knows... im never any good at giving advise.

....... peace.
 
lol cyrus I kinda do that

I hate having my money in a wallet, but when I put it in my pocket it is always greatest to least with all of the bills facing the same way. When someone hands me money I always do it out of habit without noticing.
 
I used to have a lot of issues like this..I just sorta grew out of most of them I think. Nothing that bad just nail biting and stuff..I still pick at my cuticles but only when Im bored or anxious about something. All I can think of to say is to maybe do some deep breathing excercises when you catch yourself doing it..or train yourself to do some other less damaging activity whenever you get the urge...
 
Cyrus said:
I gotta stop biting my nails. -_-
I think what you have is more habitual than OCD like, an example of OCD is always having your money in your wallet from least to greatest going from the front to the back and when you open your wallet the two sleeves always face towards you. That's a problem I have :| I think it's more willpower in overcoming this. If you keep at it, you will soon have no need to pick. So keep going!
Click to expand...


there are lots of forms of OCD. Checking things, counting things, doing things in a certain way, collecting and hoarding and physical stuff like hair pulling, etc... (eyelash pulling - ouch!)

I used to take luvox (for it) and it seemed to help. I don't anymore and am ok for the most part.

As far as that money thing goes - that's just practical. That's the way the banks do it. Don't overcome that!

The term "OCD" really gets overused.
 
redrum2whiskey said:
there are lots of forms of OCD. Checking things, counting things, doing things in a certain way, collecting and hoarding and physical stuff like hair pulling, etc... (eyelash pulling - ouch!)

I used to take luvox (for it) and it seemed to help. I don't anymore and am ok for the most part.

As far as that money thing goes - that's just practical. That's the way the banks do it. Don't overcome that!

The term "OCD" really gets overused.
Click to expand...

Certainly true, I think it would be more appropriate to use the term 'particular'.
 
^ Technically though, what you've described sounds like an impulse control disorder, which is not the same thing as OCD. In OCD the compulsions occur as a means of warding off negative thoughts or images, and there's no pleasure in performing them. Disorders like trichotillomania (pulling out hair) are classified as impulse control disorders because the act of pulling (or picking, or whatever) is in some way pleasurable, even if the consequences (embarassment, pain, etc) are not.

The only reason I'm mentioning that is because it can have implications for the way you go about treating it. If your symptoms are OCD-like in that they're performed as a means of warding off unpleasant thoughts or extreme anxiety, then it's really the thoughts/anxiety that need to be treated. If it's an impulse-control thing and you don't think it's related to any underlying issues, then what's already been suggested - ie doing things to distract yourself or prevent yourself from touching your feet - might be a better approach.
 
When I do it, I'm thinking... *digging deep into mind*.... I don't know if I'm thinking about anything - it's so strange, but I think it helps me think about nothing. But also the feeling of the skin peeling away is pleasurable. I don't know what it all means... creepy
 
It's very unlikely to be OCD then......it sounds like it's just the habit that you need to break, and not some underlying obsession that's driving you to do it. That's not to say it might not have something to do with underlying anxiety though. I do similar things when I'm really stressed - picking at my nails mainly - but luckily it's not a constant behaviour.

I remember being told a few years ago that two effective ways of dealing with compulsive hair pulling involve a) prevention; and b) increasing awareness of your actions. So, prevention might involve wearing something (such as gloves) to make the actual act of pulling (or picking) more difficult. Increasing awareness involved (in the situation I was told about) the person being instructed by their psychologist to actually keep all the hair they pulled out and bring it along to their appointment. The idea was that by forcing themselves to keep proof of what they'd done (rather than hiding it - some people actually eat the hair they pull out, believe it or not!) they're more conscious of what they're doing and therefore more likely to be able to inhibit the impulse to pull hair.

I'm not necessarily suggesting you keep the bits you pick off your toes and show them to people :) But perhaps you can think of something that'll increase your awareness of what you're doing, and the consequences of it, as a means of helping you maintain control?
 
I had an episode of hair pulling as a kid and again at 16 (different place on teh head tho). Still get it a little bit now and then when I'm tense or preoccupied, but only when my hair is long. Less so when I have my little goatee... I play with that, either with my fingers or my upper lip and tongue, sometimes biting off hairs... and eating them, too... when I find my one of my wife's hairs (long!) on the floor or anywhere I also like to play with it, wind it round my finger, twist it round, make little knots in it, and more often than not, put it in my mouth, between my front teeth, then biting it off... sometimes swallowing, but that's more often my own.

I also wank too much ( I think).

In both cases I think it's a mixture of some underlying anxiety (hence, a basic keeping-myself-busy and holding on) , but then I also do derive pleasure from touching myself, in whatever way. Perhaps it's due to a need to have more things to do, or to be grounded (yes, I also find I am not thinking anything at all while doing those things, just feeling, sensing), and that if I was a truly creative person I'd draw or make music or whatever ... as it is, I do this.

Hehe, grossly, I also like smelling my figernails (well, the space under them... nice smell, those bacteria).

And when I drive, I can't help touching that particular space behind teh stering wheel where the leather has a slight scratch... keep in contact with that. Wonder why. Another holding on, reminding myslef after having noticed it kinda thing. Going for the quirk, the rough edge, or something...

I've als started thinking that perhaps I take too many food supplements as I seem overly concerned with my health. And I hate being constipated -it makes me feel dirty.

Oh, and whenever I wonder what to do next, I sit on the computer and go online.... Ebay, Emails, BL and some other sites I like. Another way . . .

Nevertheless, despute all these so-called symptoms, I guess I feel fine and don't worry too much.

I took SSRi's, many years ago, for anxiety/depression, and I wouldn't do so again. No way. I'm fine as I am.

I just think that it's important that whatever coping mechanism/habit I have doesn't interfere too much with my goals in life and/or my day-to-day existence and activities.

Despite all those things, I have a working, loving relationship, a full head of hair (my wife, too ;) ) and my goatee is well, too... and despite my health concerns and my health-freak diet I still binge on junk food now and then and don't feel to guilty afterwards.

When you think the habit is causing you difficulties try substutiting it with another. More difficult would be, I guess. . . to let it all go without replacing it with another. I have been able to do that during times when I did meditation retreats in settings away from home... easy! Once back in the rut, old patterns tend to comeback. But anything can be done. I don't believe in drug treatment for such disorders. there are other,more difficult but surely more effective ways, if anything needs to be done.

What might also help is to look at your body while/just before an episode begins. How are you physically feeling? AnY tension? Any signs of imbalance/stagnant energy? This might be a place to tackle... ease or get rid of that tension and thereby reduce the desire to "do your thing" in order to cope. Control your body in order to control your mind (not vice versa - look into Yoga or Qi Gong, etc.)

Also, when you really think you have a problem, it will be one. Just the worrying will reinforce the behavioural pattern (in my experience anyway).

But, of course, if the pattern interferes with your life (you say you cannot walk pain free any more), I guess it's time to really do something about it. But worrying isn't the answer.

Great that you wrote about this - it takes courage even on a board where your name is already known! For me, I find that whenever I have some problems, where something about myself bugs me and I wish I didn0t think or behave that way or have those desires or whatever, even just talking about them instead of keeping them secret REALLY REALLY helps and takes their poweraway. As if by sharing your secret, it becomes less magical, less alluring and you can be without it.


EDIT. oh yeah, I guess 1mg xanax is quite a bit... would put me to sleep within 45mins for sure. I keep such things for special "Now-I-really-don't-wanna-feel-the-way-I-do-or-indeed-anything-at-all" moments and make sure these are spaced 2-4 weeks apart. I think that using benzos to cope is a VERY slippery slope wich will cost you your belief in yourself and make you chemically/physicalyl dependent quickly. That I find the scariest of thoughts. I've had mini-addictions and still do... nicotine and cannabis, for instance, but both I use on average once or twice aday, evenign only, so I feel I'm good! SOmetimes I don't at all, though atthe moment that's rare. I am certainly addicted to altered states, but I make sure it's not just one substance. hence, for relaxing, I might use different things... sometimes GHB, sometimes Alcohol, sometimes vaerian & passionplower, sometimes just a hot bath and chamomile tea. As long as I get SOMEthing, my mind can go to rest ;) So I play the trick on it, but want to make sure I don't dive into a love/hate relationship with a particular substance, cos that seems depressing to me. Sorry, I'm rambling and almost hijackign your thread to talk about myself now.

Bottom line (imho)- Dealing with anxiety chemically will allow the anxiety to keep evading your scrutiny and you won't get to the bottom of it.
 
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I know - xanax is no bueno. I'm easing off of it right now with the help of oxy (lol). I know better.. but then again maybe I don't.

Anyways, I'll try my best to take your advice. I really am interested in what you said about controlling my body, and then my mind (not the other way areound). I always suspected it worked like this. I know I'll have to do some hardcore tennis playing when these stressful couple of weeks are over and I've (hopefully) tapered off of everything.

*Says this after doing a fat line of oc*

Fuck this shit is addicting... now I'm just doing to be doing it... lol I better knock this off before I get transported to TDS.
 
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