Scratching skin when anxious

[wendy]

Hi All

I have now recovered from my nightmare of a Day / Night yesteraday (Strange how I felt so rough and have now just snapped out of it again but hey guess that is anxiety for you)

Anyway my question is does anyone scratch or pinch their skin when going through a tough panicky stage, I have started doing this over the weekend and have lots of scratches on my chest and arms and even though im now not feeling so bad am still doing it, it looks awful and have a meeting with my work tomorrow

anyone else do this? I dont feel it is self harm as I used to mildly cut my hands when I was fifteen and this is very different

Would apprecaite any thoughts

Wendyx

[ashley]

Dearest wendy
Love we do what i call nervous things when we panic, i touch my face ..i must look like a right blinking nut nut, pardon the quote.. but i do, man you are making me reviel myself now lol, i also tap my foot on the floor rather madley..
But wendy any sort of harmful infliction on your self.. when in a fearful state is in my theroy a source of self-harm..my cousin bites herself when she is in a desparate state-as what self-harmers call a sense of release, dont be alarmed by what i have said, as i feel you have made a great deal of prgress latley wendy..
Just please try to resist this darling as its no good for you, wendy ? do you go counselling or anything like this, as i feel that you have some history to you and would be good to talk with people in profession to, to kinda of load the baggage, do you know what i mean...
Remember girl..onwards and upwards is you now.. dont think on the panic attack you had.. well try .. im liking the brave you ..its cool..love.. always here

ashley x

[darkangel]

hi wendy

i would agree with ashley, self harm doesnt need to be just cutting, what you are doing is also a form. We all have different coping techniques and for years I punched my self until i bruised esp on my legs so no one could see. It is just another habit so see if you can change it to something less harmful. Take care wendy
Darkangel

........life is for living not just for surviving

[wendy]

Hi Ash

Thanks as always for your reply,

I am on the waiting list for a counseller, your right with the history and I think my dad's suicide was the trigger of this as the cutting followed briefly after, I then had eating disorder many years passed and here I am (god help us all while im in this mad state [:I] lol)

Your right I need to stop this scratching, I have enough bloody symptoms without developing anymore, I also have another thing I do (here I go again ...... of when my hair is tied up constantly pulling out the hair band and re-doing it), what must I look like!!

You are sounding much brighter and thats so good, read that you had a good night for your b.day and am so pleased,:D:D:D:D

Love

Wendy xxx

[wendy]

Hi Darkangel

Thanks for you reply, I think you right it prob is my coping mechanism and therefore a form of self harming, will take your advise and try and stick with messing with my hair and my other odd habits lol

Thanks again

Love
Wendy xxx

[ashley]

Hay wendy
Yeah my night out wasnt bad ya know , for a first night for months and months, but i was very careful ya know, ya live and learn... i have also been going church and this helps.
Although still in the neck of the woods and ant quite out yet by far..bit better though..phew.
I knew from the minute you started chattin in this forum you had a history its strange isnt it, i know because i have been there, and when it comes to the self-harm - and eating dis-order this reminds me so much of my cousin..you are like me and my cousin rolled into one heheh bless ya.
I have had to face a lot of my past and look my fears straight in the face this time round, mainly to last year being the icing on top of a mountain of a cake , so i know what all this is like, i know what it is like to want to die, or to hate yourself ..i know the pain, i know the deep pain you feel wendy, im there and i have felt it.
But you can do it, if i do it, your gonna girl..i wont leave ya behind trust me..
Bad days ,good days.. but wendy it wont go away mate..none of it wil.you have to deal with it, like i do.. we can together love.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS



ASHLEY XXXXX

[wendy]

Thanks Ashley

You are sounding ten times better! Just know you going beat this and that will make me very happy coz you deserve it!

Do you find Church helps you? I been thinking about Church and God lately (dont want to get too deep) but wonder if this may be of some comfort to me?

Ive never addressed my issues just carried on with a brave face and guess they had to come to a head sometime which I guess is what the past few months been about,

Wendy xxx

[ashley]

Yep wendy that is exactley what has happened to you, and what has happened to me. We all have to face our demons as they dont go away no matter what the demon actually is, no matter what-- pain is pain , truma is truma(spell check ash).
They dont go away until they are dealt with love, you can hide from them but you cant run away..
Im here for ya .. same as you have been for me love


ashley x

[Rennie1989]

I tend to scratch my skin and fiddle with my ear ring when anxious.

Scratching and pintching isn't self harm.

Scooties Back

[ashley]

Hay there x

Scratching, pinching,pulling ya hair,biting, etc etc any form of inflicting pain on one self is self- harm it dosnt have to be cutting your arms only to be self harm.. i never lie about anything on here , in regards to what i talk about sweety.. i only speak true from the heart.



ash

[mum2four]

I was scratching for 6y before I realised it was anxiety related. I was scratching in my sleep and when I was home my tummy had not bee healed in 6 years eva till I went on Luvox(fluvoxamine melate) and then in 3 day's it STOPPED and was in shock. I put up with 6 year of scratching think i had to stop my self because it couldn't possiabley be uncontrolable but the truth was it wasn't me chosing to scratch like I thought I was something that became so uncontrolable in the end that I had to get my partner to hold my hand in order not to scratch my self till I was in so much pain that I was crying and scratching and wanting to scream everytime I started to scratch. I couldn't even dry my self with a towel with out setting my scratching off or touch my skin with out setting it off ect as soon as my hand was near my body my head was alrady scratching before I new what was going on. If I put my hand's on my partner I was scratching him lol. I couldn't let my kids touch me lightly or I would start scratching it was totaly out of control.

I hope you find some way of stopping this be4haviour before it take over compleatly cause It can be frustrating to not beable to stop. If you already feel you haveno control dont be afraid to tell your Dr as I avoided the Dr for 6y about it the behaviour only to be handed a perscription that stopped it in 3 day's and I went threw 6 years of pain due to being scared of being told it was in me head that I couldn't stop scratching.

Please I beg you dont let this behaviour control for to long one way or another find help to over come it.

[wendy]

Thanks for all of your replies on this
I have a appointment at Docs tom so am going to mention it,

Thanks again

Wendyxxx