Desperate Measures

For the sad, lonely person who suffers from extreme dermatillomania, the shame and guilt associated with it the can exact a terrible toll on one’s emotional and psychological state.

One can come to some desperate measures to alleviate the embarrassment over picking’s physical damage:

• Not leaving the home — agoraphobia
• Wearing long sleeves and pants in summer — in an attempt to cover up the bad spots
• Using heavy cosmetics and make-up — also to cover the bad spots

The damage to the hands hands and fingers — caused by compulsive finger picking — is relatively easy to hide from others in public. This is in contrast to compulsive skin-pickers, who have the daily challenge of hiding facial and other obvious self-injury — often using the above extreme measures.

How some people hide fingers damaged from Picking

• Sitting on the hands
• Pretending to fiddle with a pen or cell phone while really picking the cuticles or nail folds
• Wearing gloves indoors (shades of Michael Jackson???)