Posted by fallsfall on June 5, 2006, at 19:25:14
In reply to self-injury trigger. anxiety, posted by llrrrpp on June 4, 2006, at 23:03:16
I was able to reduce my picking by seeing it as a symptom of distress. Then I would try to figure out why I was distressed, and tried to talk about it. When I could talk about it, I didn't need to pick so much. Sometimes, journalling would help me figure out what was distressing me, sometimes therapy helped, sometimes talking to a friend. It took a while (a year?) to figure out how to talk about what was distressing to me, but when I could finally do that I didn't need to pick.
I always carry a bottle of water with me. I started doing this because my meds gave me dry mouth. But I found that the water bottle was a great fiddle toy. And you can take it anywhere. If I start to get anxious, I play with the bottle. I think it helps to keep my hands busy, so I'm not so tempted to pick.
I also keep a rabbit's foot in my pocket (and usually won't buy a skirt or pair of pants if they don't have pockets). Then when I need some comfort, I can just stick my hand in my pocket and no one knows that I have a soft, comforting rabbit's foot in there.
The real solution, though, is to figure out why you are distressed.
(((llrrrpp)))
poster:fallsfall
thread:653013
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060604/msgs/653346.html