February yaaay!

It is now February which means we're almost past the worst of winter. Almost. Which is VERY exciting to me.

Dermatillomania update: apparently it's hard to quit doing things that have become habitual. I am in fact wearing gloves as I type this so as to prevent myself from picking at my skin. Without the gloves, I just do it without thinking, so this way I at least can't do any harm. And really, now that I think of it, it's best that I'm doing this during the winter when it's not THAT weird to wear gloves and mittens all the time.

I'll update again about this later to let anyone out there who may be suffering from the same thing know about the progresses I've made and what has and hasn't worked. Keeping your hands busy so far is the best advice I can give. And wearing mittens. And try not to obsess in the mirror. I have to learn to just let go and allow my skin to get gross in order for it to get better.

Day 1

So, it turns out this is pretty tricky. Trickier than I thought at least. I suppose it's the perfectionist in me that figures I can quit cold turkey. I did well for most of the day, but man, my skin starts feeling itchy and then as soon as I touch my face and feel any slight bump, the nails come out.

However, even though I've got quite a bit more whiteheads than usual (I usually don't tolerate them for any length of time), overall I think my skin is happier-looking. Less redness, much smoother. And because I'm not picking and causing my skin to ooze, I'm not covering my face as much with sweaters, hands or scarves. So in conclusion, despite the odd relapse, the overall lessening of skin picking is radically improving its condition.

So for all of you out there also suffering from dermatillomania: resist! It IS worth it!

Happy New Year!

As arbitrary as New Years seems to be, and as ridiculous as the customs are, Happy New Year! Despite more or less general consensus that the year should start January 1st, my 5 minutes of Wiki/Googling could not explain why. It seems the date of the new year changes from country to country and from time period to time period. March 25th seemed to be a common one. Personally, I like the idea of March 25th being the New Year because not only is that the spring equinox (minus a couple days) but also spring typically signifies the beginning of life which is much more 'new yearsy' than the beginning of winter.

As for the customs, I have no official resolutions and I don't believe I have had any for quite a few years. I don't smoke, I only drink once in a blue moon, I don't bite my nails or chew on my hair and I'm exactly the weight I should be for my height. I'm not perfect mind you, but the typical resolutions don't apply to me, so I can't just pick one of the most popular ones and go to town. I would like one though. I like having goals to work toward.

I am, however, 22 years old and still battling acne. I've more or less been winning that battle for a few years now, but I'd been losing for so long that it'll take a while to recover. I have bad genes when it comes to skin. All but one member of my family had severe, severe acne leaving us all scarred and underconfident about our looks. Despite having a predisposition to acne, there ARE things that I can do, or rather refrain from doing, that would help considerably. So...I'm going to come to grips with reality and put it out there for the whole world to see (even though this side of acne is almost never talked about. In fact, I find that over the past few years acne has been painted with a victim's brush which only stagnates progress because it eliminates the personal responsibility aspect to recovery.)

I pick at my skin. There, I said it. I do it. I know I shouldn't, I know it'll make things worse, but it's basically become second nature. It takes me a while to even realise I'm doing it. So, I think that my new years resolution is to break the habit of picking at my skin. I'm not sure if there are any support groups or tips and tricks to it, but I think that if I can break that habit, my skin will thank me for it.

So this is where I leave you. Feel free to comment on your own acne battle, what you resolve to do or not do this year and when you think the new year should begin.