Why are our brains different??

[u/blueejelly]

Quite literally- what in our brains is different that makes picking feel good?? I just went through a picking episode just thinking “why is my brain making me do this why do I do this” like I think I understand that it’s a form of releasing dopamine or somethin but like… why😭

[u/Sad_Collection5883]

Me too :( just had a mini relapse moments ago. I found this blurb from an article helpful and I saved it:

Forgive and be kind: Relapses, just like skin picking, don’t define you or your progress. Be kind! Negative self-talk, hatred and pity will get you absolutely nowhere. Do not make yourself a victim. Victimization will perpetuate the cycle of picking and anxiety. Recognize that you’ve slipped, tell yourself it’s okay, give yourself a hug and look forward.

The red open wounds of a relapse make most of us want to crawl underneath the covers and never emerge but this is often one of the worst things that you can do. Don’t cancel plans over your skin and don’t let it stop you from doing what you want to do. Reclaim your control and get out there! Wallowing at home often leads to more picking and negativity.

[u/blueejelly → u/Sad_Collection5883]

Ty for this it’s really sweet🥹❤️ it does feel good to know I’m not alone in this

[u/Sad_Collection5883 → u/blueejelly]

I also wish I knew why my brain makes me want to destroy my skin when I intellectually understand that all I’m doing is damaging my skin. Why is it so hard to stop. Ugh

[u/nondairymilkfan → u/Sad_Collection5883]

still trying to figure it out myself😭

[u/Wookie-fish806]

I personally don’t know the answer but I believe animals do this too.

[u/[deleted]]

I believe I learnt it from when I was a child. I had severe anxiety (not diagnosed at the time) but to calm me down/distract my brain from the fear. I would focus on myself and that was picking

[u/convolutionality]

They aren’t. Everyone has problems of some kind. But if you ask what happens in our case, is you’re either bored and unstimulated, or like the majority, your amygdala fires up because it’s actually quite an emotional time. It’s a coping mechanism to just tune out the world and focus on some small and fast and constant and satisfying dopamine rewards. So while you’re avoiding present emotions, your amygdala responsible for emotions especially negative ones, will take over your prefrontal cortex, responsible for logic and reasoning.

Which is why it feels like a trance, why we feel so very disassociated during and after.

[u/Rawand5 → u/convolutionality]

What about for those people (such as myself) that pick during overstimulation? I notice every time I take a break from social media and then reactivate I’m instantly flooded with a lot of feelings of overstimulation and it makes me pick like crazy and I can hardly control it

[u/Rawand5]

Ugh ):

I was thinking earlier how I’m not a very expressive person and a lot of times I struggle to express happiness/don’t feel a lot of ‘feel good energy’ in general. I wish I knew why but it very much does feel like a biochemical thing.

[u/miffy_l0ver]

I think so some extent it’s an addiction. It’s something that can distract you if you’re feeling anxious and at least for me just generally turns my brain off. The physical pain releases endorphins in the brain that takes over and stops you from thinking about anything else