Day 3 - Dermatillomania: The Gaps Within Conventional Treatment
2:03 PM
The approach
I am using to self-treat the condition called dermatillomania is necessarily
multi-dimensional. I have done research on the treatments available and I have
seen that one type of therapy alone cannot be a cure, but can be a huge step
forward towards treatment and cessation of this disorder. I am not making any
kind of claim that I know better or know more, but what I know is me, and I am
the reason, the cause, the source and the solution to myself. What I intend to do is look
at the current existent research, and to ‘fill in the gaps’ in order to tailor
the treatment to suit me the best way possible, and to document this in order that others may do the same for themselves.
Psychiatrists have done a lot of research and experimentation
on the disorder which has some proven and very beneficial results. Take for example the following brief
description of a treatment suggestion below:
Four Steps for Conquering Symptoms of
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz, author of Brain Lock: Free Yourself from
Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior, offers the following four steps for
dealing with OCD:
- RELABEL – Recognize
that the intrusive obsessive thoughts and urges are the result of OCD. For
example, train yourself to say, "I don't think or feel that my hands
are dirty. I'm having an obsession that my hands are dirty." Or,
"I don't feel that I have the need to wash my hands. I'm having a
compulsive urge to perform the compulsion of washing my hands."
- REATTRIBUTE – Realize that
the intensity and intrusiveness of the thought or urge is caused by OCD;
it is probably related to a biochemical imbalance in the brain. Tell
yourself, "It's not me—it’s my OCD," to remind you that OCD
thoughts and urges are not meaningful, but are false messages from the
brain.
- REFOCUS – Work around
the OCD thoughts by focusing your attention on something else, at least
for a few minutes. Do another behavior. Say to yourself, "I'm
experiencing a symptom of OCD. I need to do another behavior."
- REVALUE – Do not take the OCD thought at face value. It is not significant in itself. Tell yourself, "That's just my stupid obsession. It has no meaning. That's just my brain. There's no need to pay attention to it." Remember: You can't make the thought go away, but neither do you need to pay attention to it. You can learn to go on to the next behavior.
Source: Westwood
Institute for Anxiety Disorder.
To see the entire article, click Here.
Although it’s true
that the thoughts associated to dermatillomania are not ‘real’ per se, and are
not ‘true’ in reality; they have been made ‘real’ and ‘true’ to us in our own
minds, to such an extent that we would react emotionally, energetically and
physically. I don’t want to give these thoughts validity or to justify them in anyway,
but I do think they merit some investigation because although they are related
to the disorder and ‘caused by the disorder’, it is important to note that, the
disorder is not separate from self. I caused this disorder within and as me. I
repeated a pattern until it became who I am. I abdicated myself repeatedly to a
feeling until it became like an addiction, until I became dependent upon it.
Note that the
thoughts are not popping up out of nowhere, they are coming from me, they are
relevant to me, and they are the result of my internal workings. I am not
saying this in a victimizing way, this is not about self-victimization at all.
This is about taking responsibility for the disorder because it is only in
taking responsibility for self that self can change. This is why it is called
taking self-responsibility. Taking self-responsibility is like saying “yes, I
did this, and I can also un-do this.” This is how Self stands as the solution
to self. I can find out where the thoughts come from through
self-investigation, I can trace them back to their source, I can forgive them
and I CAN delete them from within and as me through a self-commitment to do so
within self-understanding and self-forgiveness; understanding exactly WHY I am
the way I am so that I can forgive, let go and move on. In this way, I become the expert of
myself, and no one else can be or do that for me, and I do so within and as self-love and
self-acceptance
It is important to also
remember that the disorder was caused within ignorance, and within this,
we are in a way, innocent. There is a lot of guilt and shame associated with
dermatillomania, because it’s weird and abnormal and demonstrates a lack of
control and an indulgence (among many other reasons). When people see this they may then project their own
self-judgment for their own lack of self-control and indulgence on to the derma
sufferer, simply because theirs is hidden and ours is advertised. This is why
it’s important never to take judgment seriously, because it’s never about you,
it’s about the other person.
When I started picking my skin, I didn’t understand
what I was doing or why I was doing it. All I knew is that it made me feel
better, but I didn’t even know why I was feeling ‘wrong’ in the first place, or
why picking made it feel better. I did it because I simply didn’t have the tools
to cope or understand or to take self-responsibility in the moment, so I
defaulted to my ‘programming’. In doing this, I intensified, solidified and
crystalized this programming into my very beingness until it reached the stage
of consequence that I am at today. If I had had the tools at the time, I could
have prevented the whole thing. But I didn’t, so here I am in this current
position, like many others. So in looking to the principle of forgiveness, I forgive
myself, for I knew not what I was doing. If we don’t forgive we can’t move on change.
But forgiveness alone is ineffective, hence the
mention at the beginning of this blog of the multi-dimensionality of self-treatment, which I am going to
employ for myself. Forgiveness is a huge key because it assists and supports in
the investigation process, it opens up thoughts and points in order to find
their source. It creates a self-closeness including self-love and
self-acceptance which are vital to self-healing.
Within my next blog, I will
investigate the thoughts as reactions I had when trying to use the tip from my
last blog:
“Look
into self when you start feeling like you’re going to pick. Try to define in
words what it is you see and what it is you are feeling.
Do self-forgiveness on that which you
have clarified for yourself as your internal experience, in order to clear the
mind for practical use.
Make a step-by-step plan for what you
are going to do INSTEAD of picking.
Keep focused and the details of the
plan and get specific, get VERY specific if
you have to. You know how specific and detailed you get when picking? Channel
that into plan-making instead.
LIVE the plan.”
So to recap for this blog:
I took an example of a treatment suggestion from Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz, and I am
adding to it a precursor, which is to, before dismissing the derma related
thoughts within and through his suggestions, is to first investigate and
understand the thoughts, find their source, forgive them, and then use his techniques. In this, we are taking full self-responsibility
for the disorder, and standing as ourselves as the solution.
In my next blog I
will demonstrate how to investigate, understand and find the source of
thoughts, forgive them, and re-script a new way of being/thinking/doing while
incorporating Mr. Schwartz’s suggestions.
Self-Study
with support, learn to respect you and others, learn how to stop mind chatter,
learn how to forgive so effectively that you actually change forever, learn how
to stop and change the automatic thoughts that run your life --Sign up for the FREE
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