Addiction

Part 1 of 2 Watching the first few episodes of ‘House of the Dragon’ on HBO, something shocked me to the core. It wasn’t the violence, the childbirth scenes, or Matt Smith setting a whole bunch of people on fire. No.

It was seeing myself on the screen.

Well, not exactly myself, per se, but seeing a teenage girl being snapped at by her father for nervously picking at her nails–so much so, that they’re bloody. In this case,www.youtube.com/watch a high ranking lady and main character in the series, chewing and picking her fingers nervously throughout the first season of the show.

In most action packed shows, mental health and neurodivergence aren’t added to a character’s development unless it’s a plot point. But having that quick few scenes of Alicent’s bloody nails and skin not only gave depth to her character, but represented a common issue within mental health–bodily harm. It’s very common amongst disorders, with almost www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3556753 being seen as nail biting before a certain age.

I’m not a fan of Alicent by any stretch of the imagination (Team Black over here!), but if she was around in real life, I’d offer her some help on saving her nails. After all, I’ve struggled with biting and picking at my nails and cuticles since I was in elementary school, due to both nerves and as a habit. Not only that, but before I was medicated, my MDD and hypoplasia caused my hands to tremor incessantly, so much so that I got berated by a classmate in graduate school for having ‘wiggly hands’.

Sometimes, picking them to oblivion was the only thing I could do to calm them down.

I can only do so much in regards to my conditions, but I’ve learned a few things in order to save my hands from when I’m feeling the urge to pick at them, or even bite them (a medical term called onychophagia. Picking your skin is known as dermatillomania).

Here’s what Dr. VV recommends if you bite, tear, and otherwise abuse your fingers, whether it’s due to anxiety, depression, compulsion, or just a bad habit.

Tips for Saving Your Nails/Fingers:

Recognize That You Have a Medical Condition: We don’t associate stimming with addiction. After all, the image of the addict–tragic, dark, with an empty bottle or used needle–is a vast departure from the individual shredding their cuticles for comfort in a classroom or behind the wheel of their Prius. But that wee bit of serotonin drives us. People who shred their nailbeds and chew on their fingers are not doing it because of peer pressure. It’s a comforting activity that is also harmful (Issues like staph infection, ingrown nails, broken teeth, and constant bleeding are some potential medical side effects of onychophagia). In fact, nail biting is even listed as a disorder by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, connecting it to disorders such as OCD, ADHD, and ODD. I have both a learning disability and MDD, so I fit right in with this alphabet soup. Many people are ashamed of their nails if they bite them: remember, if you’re one of them, it is a part of your psychiatric makeup.

Get Glitter Nail Polish: Many well meaning individuals have recommended getting nail polish put on to keep one from chewing on their fingers. The issue with this solution that I’ve found out is that, should you begin the inevitable picking again, the nails will look even worse, driving you to pick and bite even more, your brain overwhelming your senses with the need to modify your nails. However, with glitter nail polish, especially if the polish comes in big, circular flakes, they help with the need to pick, all while leaving your nails alone. After all, you can pick the flakes right off, a soothing effect that leaves your cuticles and nail tips alone. I personally recommend LA Colors in Confetti or Sally Hansen’s Instant Dri in Grape Split.

Wear Driving Gloves: Oh, so corny and so useful! I drive a lot for work, and when my hands and brain are still, the inevitable picking occurs. I recognize this issue, and after a suggestion from another picker on Calm Hands (see below), I invested in a pair ofwww.amazon.com/dp/B07PYG8FZ7 from Taiwan. Suddenly, the bloody fingers stopped, and although I’ve got a long way to go to break the cycle, a huge compulsion is currently curbed when I’ve got those bad boys on. Especially since the fingers and palms have a risen bubbly surface, which allows me to rub them repeatedly, scratching my proverbial itch to pick.

Find a Support Group: Most people associate addiction with groups such as AA. Believe it or not, there’s also some communities for pickers as well! I’m

I’m fat. I admit it. I haven’t been fat all my life, so this came as something of a surprise to me, but I’m dealing with it. I don’t know whether it’s my eating habits or my medication or some genetic thing that has caused me to gain weight, but there you have it. It could be any or all of those.

I’m not trying extreme diets or grueling workouts, though I admit that some exercise would be good for my mental condition as well as my body. I’m living with and acknowledging the fact that I am fat.

The thing is, when I think about myself, I don’t think of myself as fat. Perhaps I’m in denial about it. But I do know how much I weigh and that it’s over what I should, according to all the height vs. weight and BMI Index charts. And I don’t think of myself as thin. I just feel as though I’m still in my 30s and weigh what I weighed then, despite my body’s very clear rejection of those notions. I know I’m really in my 60s and have trouble getting up off the floor if I fall, in part because of what I weigh.

I’ve heard that everyone gets stuck in their head at a certain age and always remains that same age in their mind. It’s not quite like having an inner child of four or ten (or in my case, more like 15). I used to think I didn’t have an inner child until I remembered how much I still love chocolate milk, plush animals, and naps. And I do have that inner teen that wants to make up for all the things I missed when I was a depressed teen, like mad crushes and experimenting with fingernail polish and fake nails. But having an inner weight is different somehow. It’s like my brain and my body are clashing in some way.

At least I don’t have Body Dysmorphic Disorder. That’s when you see tiny, imperceptible flaws in yourself and magnify them until you think that’s all people see when they look at you. Technically, it’s not the same as anorexia because, in anorexia, you focus only on your weight even if you are thin. Anorexia is an eating disorder that you have as a reaction to your flawed perception of your body size. Dysmorphic Disorder is more about smaller perceived flaws such as balding or the size of your nose. (The Mayo Clinic does say that Body Dysmorphic Disorder can cause or be associated with eating disorders, low self-esteem, mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse. The DSM-5 does not classify Body Dysmorphia as an eating disorder. It’s confusing.)

One of the dangers of Body Dysmorphic Disorder is overuse of plastic surgery, which can be somewhat of an addiction in itself. Just watch a few episodes of the TV series Botched and you’ll see what I mean. There are always horror stories like the one in which a young man wanted to look like Michael Jackson and as a result of repeated surgery suffered the same health problems and conditions that the singer did.

Read the full story here: https://bipolarme.blog/2022/09/25/body-and-brain-self-image/

I was born addicted. I get addicted to everything. even the medication to help with my addiction is addictive.#

Hi I'm new here I suffer with mental health and have addiction issues I'm not a mixer of people so trying to build up some sort of support through thos app as I have herd ppl rave about it

I have so many questions in my mind about how parents handle addiction or other things when there are children in the picture. The biggest question being, "Did anyone take into account that your kids could possibly stumble across said addict in the act?" I really feel like when parents decide to things like that a secret, the kids seem to be an afterthought. The said addiction could be embarrassing for said parent, but do they realize that hiding it could effect how their kids see them as a person? I've asked myself these questions because once my step parent's porn addiction was out in the open, all the missing pieces came together, but now I see my family differently. It feels more of a cover up than a real family. But that's just me. #MentalHealth #Depression #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Addiction #dysfunctional #Family

Social media can be addicting... I want to be active and take part in it, but I don't want to lose myself to the temptations that feel built specifically for my ADHD. Is there a program that restricts social media? (I.e. only let's a person post twice a day or only lets you spend 30 minutes on it a day before it locks you out based on your settings.)

If not, then there should be. Time management is a huge issue that a lot of people struggle with, especially if you have ADHD or other mental health disorders.

I know there are apps and programs that allow you to block sites entirely, but I get lazy and tempted, especially when I'm depressed. I know I can unblock it at whim and I won't always feel like going through the hassle of turning it on and off. Maybe one of them has a timer built into it that can you can schedule for every day or week or month (interval options are important). I need to do more research, but maybe one of you good people knows and uses something they like and could save me some time?

#social #SocialMedia #MightyTogether #Addiction #boundaries