I (22F) have been struggling with skin picking I think since middle school. For a long time i thought it was just a bad habit and I was too lazy to quit it. I recently discovered that dermatillomania is a real thing that lots of people have (I'm not alone hooray!) But the effects of skin picking really hurts my self esteem even though I've been dealing with it for a years now.
My mom always has to comment on the status of my face with comments like, "I wish you would just stop picking" or looking at me with obviously pitying faces. She used to take pictures of my face when I was in middle school and show me to emphasize to me how bad it was.
I'm so sick of this and it really makes me feel like I'm no use as a person if I don't have a pretty face and clear skin. I've tried to tell her that it really affects me when she constantly calls out my skin. It really doesn't help the habit, it just makes me feel angry and guilty when I have a picking episode. I get visibly upset when she comments about it which makes her say "I don't understand why you get so mad at me when I try to talk to you about this". She's trying to be "helpful" but I can't seem to make her understand that this is a clinical condition that thousands of people struggle with.
Has anyone else struggled with this and what are some things that I could say to communicate with her that helping me with my self image is more important than calling out the skin picking.
Also does anyone have other mental health issues that go hand-in-hand with the dermatillomania? I've heard that it can be a symptom of anxiety or OCD and I'm wondering if I should be evaluated.