Why do I pick on my face?

Question

I felt like I was going crazy this morning, so I didn't go to my French class. Instead, I ended up picking on my face for half an hour so now it's all red...I seem to do this all the time, and then I just think well, that was stupid...I do it sometimes on my thighs and arms too. I just kinda zone out and do it. I used to cut myself sometimes but I haven't in over a year. Is this some form of self mutilation or something? I seem to have a hard time coping with emotions. I've tried to completely shut them down, but then when they crop up, I just don't know what to do. I also can't seem to motivate myself to do anything. It was hard to get up, and then I decided there wasn't any point to go to class today. I can't seem to ever have any energy either.

Answer 1

Sweetie, tell a trusted adult what you told us. This is a psychological disorder and you are not alone. There is help for you.
Why does self-injury make some people feel better?

It reduces physiological and psychological tension rapidly.
Studies have suggested that when people who self-injure get emotionally overwhelmed, an act of self-harm brings their levels of psychological and physiological tension and arousal back to a bearable baseline level almost immediately. In other words, they feel a strong uncomfortable emotion, don't know how to handle it (indeed, often do not have a name for it), and know that hurting themselves will reduce the emotional discomfort extremely quickly. They may still feel bad (or not), but they don't have that panicky jittery trapped feeling; it's a calm bad feeling.

Some people never get a chance to learn how to cope effectively.
One factor common to most people who self-injure, whether they were abused or not, is invalidation. They were taught at any early age that their interpretations of and feelings about the things around them were bad and wrong. They learned that certain feelings weren't allowed. In abusive homes, they may have been severely punished for expressing certain thoughts and feelings. At the same time, they had no good role models for coping. You can't learn to cope effectively with distress unless you grow up around people who are coping effectively with distress. Although a history of abuse is common about self-injurers, not everyone who self-injures was abused. Sometimes invalidation and lack of role models for coping are enough, especially if the person's brain chemistry has already primed them for choosing this sort of coping.

Problems with neurotransmitters may play a role.
Just as it's suspected that the way the brain uses serotonin may play a role in depression, so scientists think that problems in the serotonin system may predispose some people to self-injury by making them tend to be more aggressive and impulsive than most people. This tendency toward impulsive aggression, combined with a belief that their feelings are bad or wrong, can lead to the aggression being turned on the self. Of course, once this happens, the person harming himself learns that self-injury reduces his level of distress, and the cycle begins. Some researchers theorize that a desire to release endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, is involved.

http://www.focusas.com/SelfInjury.html

Answer 2

Maybe you have depression. I do the same thing, and also did use to cut, but that was years ago. I never thought about the two being connected, but im not sure if they are. I think the picking comes from a bit of boredom and like you said, to zone out for awhile. I pretty much have to tell myself to knock it off unless I want to spend 2 hours doing makeup to cover what I did, lol.
Maybe you should try some antidepressants? They really can help.

Answer 3

I have never cut myself, but I do pick-

I pick my arms, face, and sometimes my face.

I think I do it for several reason; I'm bored, I have several thoughts that I try to get straight, or i'm having some sort of anxiety attack. It has gotten so bad that I have to lie about how I got them on my face- I used to say that I would wake up and it happened at night in my sleep, now that I have a son, I say that I was trying to keep him from hitting the table, and I did. Only two people in the world know that I have anxiety attacks and such.

I liked the answer "O" gave- I know I should get help, but now I put healing ointment on the spots on my face- not only is it clearing it up, and I don't pick at it with goo on it, but it is forcing me to think about what I am trying to avoid...

Answer 4

Im not a guy, yet i'm a lessa and that i could desire a surprisingly face...oviously with a surprisingly character to bypass with it too :-) maximum woman bodies look appealing to me besides even if shape.

Answer 5

Sister this is depression and nerves! you need to talk someone
and get help, basically to get the tools you need to cope. It maybe easier then you think. Talk to the school counselor or psychologist.
Nothing your doing is uncommon but you need to change direction NOW.
Peace Now

Answer 6

Bring something else along to pick at if you have to pick, like maybe carry a squeeze ball and put it in your hand everytime you feel like picking. Keep your hands occupied so you'll keep them away from your face. It's probaby just a nervous habit.

Answer 7

maybe ur suffering from depression of some kind, you might want to look into setting up an appointment with the psychiatrist, and no, seeing a psychiatrist doesn't mean that ur crazy.

Answer 8

You have some kind of underlying problem you are not facing, You need to seek professional help before you do more serious things to yourself

Answer 9

yes sweetheart the best thing you can do for yourself is to see a doctor, belive it or not they can be alot of help =D

Answer 10

'cuz ur a dork, thats why