ROADS TO RECOVERY: PICKERS ANONYMOUS
Build your own Support
Yesterday I went to a poetry reading, and a young girl (probably early 20s) read some poems about her family. In one she mentioned her mother picking her cuticles. I went up to her afterwards to talk about it. She indeed now has the habit, too, and said face picking has been a problem as well. I told her about your research and she said she would be happy to be interviewed when we get to that stage. I am sure that once you get something published, we are going to hear from A LOT women.
Whatever you do, it helps tremendously to have a good support system behind you. When you get overwhelmed by issues that cause you to pick, the best thing you can do is talk about it with someone with objective, yet positive feedback.
Because there currently are no ‘Pickers Anonymous’ groups, you may need to seek out other self help groups that can support your healing.
Finding a good therapist can be one of the best things you can do. For me personally I used a combination of a couple of counseling sessions, plus a great group of friends who are healers of various sorts.
Where do you begin to build a support group? Churches often offer support programs and people who minister to the sick. Don’t be afraid to ask someone from your church to visit with you and talk about your feelings. Often ministers themselves can offer advice and consolation.
What ultimately helped to support my healing process, was writing this book. It was the process of gathering up my binder full of articles torn out of magazines, notes from doctors, notes from conversations with friends, and searching across the internet to find out as much as I possibly could about my ‘problem’ and then compiling all of it in one place and then writing my story, this story, to make sense of how it all fit. That became my ‘support group.’ So although you may not be possessed to write your own book, you can write about your experiences and share them with someone just like I have done with you.
Keep a journal and compile self assessment tools you use to uncover information about yourself. Create your own support binder! Also refer to the Organizations of Interest listed at the back of this book.
