Addiction

I have given up my addiction.

Not for my significant other, as I have been lucky enough to have someone in my life who loves me no matter what, and has stuck with me throughout more than five of my ten years with this illness.

Not for my family, as the only one I've told about my addiction is my mother. And I'm still not convinced that she believes that I have an actual addiction to anything.

Not for my friends. Though they have seen the physical affects, I have told exactly ONE of my personal friends about the true nature of my affliction. Understanding though he was, I haven't found the courage to tell more.

I have given up my addiction.

I can't sustain the emotional toll any longer. I can't deal with the hiding, the shame.

I have given up my addiction.

FOR ME.

Broken Is As Broken Does

I don't really know what to write about, exactly, but for some reason, I really feel the need to write.

I still hate my job, but I may be getting a new one soon! =) I recently had a second-round interview to be the manager of a college campus phonathon, where I would oversee student callers and student supervisors who call alumni to raise donations. I was a student caller at my Alma Mater for over 3 years, so I think it would be a really great fit for me. My first 2 interviews have gone exceedingly well, and I'm super excited. I would have to move to the University of Northern Iowa, but I'm ok with that. I should know whether or not I have the job in about 2 weeks, and I would start at the beginning of July.

I slipped and fell on a spill at a bar on Tuesday. Luckily, my hip was there to break my fall. =/ It's ridiculously painful, and it's actually preventing me from going to work. I have a hard time sitting normally, which I need to do while I'm at work, so...... yeah. ***Editor's note: A week after this fall happened, I finally went to the doctor because it just wasn't getting better. Turns out I fractured my hip. =( And now I have awesome medical bills on top of that. Le Sigh.... ***

Ok, now for Relevant Portion of the Blog Time!

I noticed recently that I was picking a moderate amount while I was at work. Then I would quickly try to give myself a "touch up" with the makeup that I always carried with me "just in case". That makeup, that I always had in my purse, was more than just makeup. It was my crutch. And boy did I lean on it. And so I decided to make a change. What's odd is that there was virtually no forethought, no planning involved in this decision. It just happened:

I no longer allow myself to carry my makeup with me. I leave it at home. Always. Just knowing that I have no way of hiding my "accidents", it forces me pay much closer attention to what my naughty little fingers are doing when they get too close to my face. And it's been helping. I still have the occasional accident while I'm at work, but not like I used to.

And then I decided that I wouldn't take my makeup with me when we went out, for dinner, for drinks, nothing. And this turned into allowing myself to do my makeup once, and only once, each day. If I have an accident, I'm not allowed to "fix" it with makeup anymore. It's seems so simple, and yet it's so extremely difficult to enforce these new rules. But I think I'm slowly starting to change my psychological response to picking. Now, instead of finding release in the act of picking, I experience intense anxiety from it, simply because I know that I can't hide it anymore once it's happened. At least while I'm not at home. I'm still working on that part.

But I think that this is a step in the right direction. =)


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Hmmmm.....

Somehow, I get a sort of perverse pleasure from doing what I do to myself. It's so odd, I know that I shouldn't do it, I know that it destroys my skin and my self-esteem, and I know that I want to stop.

So why can't I? What is it about this disorder that keeps reeling me back in, even after quitting, sometimes for weeks at a time? It makes no sense to me. They tell me that it's some sort of impulse control thing, where picking makes me feel like I'm in control of my skin. But I disagree, because I have no control over my picking whatsoever. At lest it seems that way....

To me, it feels like my picking controls nearly every aspect of my life: my social life, because I feel that people can only see my horrible skin, rather than who I am as a person. My professional life because I feel that no one really takes me seriously when I look like I have a disease or that I'm an adolescent with a bad skin problem, take your pick....

Now, you'll notice that I start a lot of my sentences start with "I feel". There's a good reason for that. The impacts that my skin has on various aspects of my life, as I described above, are mostly just in my head. If you were to ask those closest to me, or even those I have been fortunate enough to meet in my online dermatillomania forums, most would tell you that they don't really notice my skin. In fact, I'm told on a fairly regular basis that I'm beautiful or "hot", even by complete strangers, so, theoretically anyway, my skin can't be as bad as I think it is, can it?

This condition, this curse, this cross for me to bear, has whittled away at my self-esteem for the past 9 years, and let me tell ya, I don't have a whole lot left.

I want to stop, I need to stop, I just don't know if I can make myself allow myself to stop. It's kind of like being bipolar, in a way: half my brain would do anything to make the picking stop, and the other half would do anything to keep going. Unfortunately, the latter half seems to be winning. Which makes me sad.

And so this inner war-like turmoil rages on....

Back in the Saddle Again

It's been a REALLY long time since my last post, but Life kind of got in the way. Sorries!!

I got a new job back in January. I hate it. =( At first it wasn't so bad, but now it just drains me, physically and emotionally. I'm a customer service representative for Time Warner Cable's New York/New Jersey division. So basically, I spend my days taking calls from angry New Yorkers who yell at me because their bill is too high or their equipment doesn't work, etc., etc. Needless to say, it's a pretty stressful job. And because of this, my skin and my picking have both gotten worse over the past few months.

Some better news: I'm in the middle of the hiring process right now for a job that I really want: managing a campus call center that would raise funds for the campus. I used to be a caller at one of these back when I was in college and I loved it, so I'm really hoping that I get this. They have locations all across the country, but none in my home state of Wisconsin, so I'd have to move, but I'm really ok with that. I'm hoping for Florida. =)

Alrighty, on to a subject more relevant to the subject of this blog. Lol.

I've started writing my lines again. It's been about a day and a half since I last picked and, just like last time, I'm seeing results already. Now this new-found resolve to get Back in the Saddle (Haha, see what I did there? I incorporated the title of the blog into the blog! Awesome, right?) didn't come just out of the blue. I had a little push from a friend by the name of Angie Hartlin, author of "FOREVER MARKED: A Dermatillomania Diary". Once I get back on my feet financially, I definitely plan to buy the book, I've heard a ton of great things about it. But what actually inspired me was that she contacted me about one of the photos that I had posted of myself in the Dermatillomania Awareness group on Facebook.

She's doing a project in which she photoshopps pictures of derm sufferers to show our "true identities". So this is the end result:

And you can find more of her work here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=69204020#!/photo.php?pid=4022474&id=177738602694 (although you might have to join the group or become a fan or whatever in order to see them).

But seeing myself without any blemishes for the first time since I was 14 kind of lit of fire under me. Now, I really want to look like that photo, in real life, with no makeup. I think this just might be the visual incentive I need to help me get there.

So thank you, Ms. Hartlin, for giving me the push I needed to try again.


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My Goodness....

...it's been almost forever since I last posted! Sorry 'bout that. =/

So here's the update: with the 30 day challenge, I actually did pretty good. Unfortunately, my camera broke, so I wasn't able to document it in photos. And THEN, when the holidays came around and everything got super stressful, I had a little relapse that I'm still dealing with now. It's not too bad, and there's only a couple marks.

So, all in all, I'm much better off than I have been in year's past, and I'm really looking forward to a good year in skin!

♥

Some More Help

Happy November 1st!!

To celebrate, I'm participating in a 30 Day Challenge as seen at HighOnHealth.

I've been spending quite a bit of time at this site in general, and also at the-clearest-skin-ever.com. Both of these sites are run by a women named Fran Kerr, who is just fantastic. Her sites offer some amazing real world advice for pickers and acne sufferers alike, without pushing specific products on her readers. She definitely makes suggestions about what she personally uses, but also gives other options.

In addition to her 30 Day "No Pimple Picking" Challenge, I'm also following her 7 Steps to Acne-Free Skin Mini-Course. I really enjoy Fran's sites, because she offers a lot of her advice through video, rather than just text. I think I like this because I'm getting advice from an actual person, instead of just a computer screen.

I highly recommend everyone visit the sites when you get the chance, and I hope you'll join me in the 30 Day Challenge!!!

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What They Say....

.....Most of it is true, so far as I've read. At least as far as I'm concerned (and have noticed), I exhibit most of the stereotypes of a dermatillomaniac:

I'm not addicted to any sort of drug
I've only even tried pot once...
I've always been an overachiever in school
Finished high school 3rd in my class, 3.96 GPA out of 4.0
Finished college (first in my family to get a Bachelor's degree!) with a 3.26
Basically put myself thru school financially, with the help of gov't loans, which I'll have to pay back....
I've always participated in extracurriculars throughout high school and college:
Wrestling
Concert/Marching/Pep Band
Math Club
Science Club
Art Club
Zeta Phi Eta (Honorary Communication Fraternity)
Volunteer Note Taking (For Students with Disabilities)
I'm actually really good at hiding my dermatillomania, which I've noticed about many others who share this condition with me.

I'm a bit of a facebook stalker (sorry!), so I like to click on profiles of those who are in my dermatillomania groups with me. And I've got to say, we're HOT! The profile pics that I've seen of us, we're out there, being social, looking good, hanging out! Seriously, we should all be make-up artists or something, because we're really good at hiding our condition from the world with our make-up in our pictures.

I just found this really ironic, that those of us with such a devestating condition would photograph so well!!

What a bunch of hotties we are!!

♥

Stay strong, we can beat this, and look good doing it, too!!!!