Symptoms of Anxiety

Skin-Picking and Hair-Pulling: Some Lessor-Known Symptoms of Anxiety

Everyone is rushing, and most people are struggling to make their lives better. There is a massive load of work, and work-related pressure leading to stress and anxiety. Most of the time, it was seen that many people have the habit of skin picking and hair pulling. Skin picking and other body-focused repetitive behaviour can be related to anxiety. You don’t need to think or feel shame because many people have this kind of behaviour. According to the research, it was concluded that most of the repetitive and unusual behaviour is due to the symptoms of anxiety. Before going further, it is essential to learn more about skin picking. 

What are skin picking and hair pulling? 

When people live with this weird behaviour, they feel embarrassed and alone. No one wants to talk about that,, but it is an important topic to discuss. 

According to the sources, it was found that around 1.4 percent of the population are involved in skin picking, and most are women.

These behaviours can affect all areas of our lives and lead to social distancing from people. Many works and daily activities are affected due to this kind of behaviour and a lack of concentration. 

Skin picking:

  • When people are associated with the behaviour of skin picking, then it becomes pretty challenging to stop picking your head or your fingers or any other things with which you are fiddling. Thi includes other behaviour like picking off the existing moles, freckles, spots and creating new patches, burns, etc. This behaviour is not suitable for your body as it can lead to many other minor repetitive injuries. 
  • Most of the time, it can result in infection, and you might also face serious issues. At the time of disease, people needed antibiotics, and if you have the behaviour of picking your hair, it can make your infectious part even more painful. This can also affect the quality and health of your hair. It is highly suggested to avoid behaviour like skin picking and hair pulling. 

Hair pulling:

  • Hair pulling involves pulling hair from the eyebrows, eyelashes, head, or other. Most people do this kind of behaviour with their hands and fingers. If they are not comfortable with their hands, then they can even use some tools. Many people also have habits of eating their hair. It can be part of other conditions as well. As per the consequences and research, it is said that it can be the symptoms of anxiety which is essential to consider to adapt to other treatments.

Around 2 percent of the population have the habit of hair-pulling, out of which about 75 percent are women.

  • The worst thing about hair pulling is that it can make the area where we have removed the hair sore, and it can cause ingrown hair as well. Hair pulling can also cause infection, which can provide a long time effect on your hair growth and can affect the health of your hair. 

What are the causes of skin picking and hair pulling behaviour? 

Numerous things can contribute to the development of body-focused and repetitive behaviour. Stress and anxiety are the most significant cause of this behaviour. Stress, depression, frustration, tension can all act as the trigger to make you do repetitive behaviour. This type of behaviour mainly works in favor and allows the person to reduce some stress levels. Most of the time, it was found that people do some weird behaviour to relax their minds and avoid the symptoms of stress and anxiety. 

Prevention:

These behaviours can be termed as self-harm. This weird behaviour is self-damaging, and people harm their body parts or skin. It is essential to get rid of this behaviour. Many self-caring actions can work in your favor and provide positive results in maintaining your body and health.

  •  If you have a skin-picking habit, then make sure to look after wounds to stop further infection or damage. 
  • Make sure to heal the wound immediately to reduce the risk factors. 
  • It is highly recommended to keep an eye on injuries to check that they don’t become a severe issue or get infected. 
  • The people who used to do hair pulling need to find their specific shampoo or other hair treatment to help your hair to grow. 
  • Make sure to use good-quality products to avoid the fall of your hair. 

Final Verdict

Many people don’t know that they have some anxiety-related symptoms, and they ignore their behaviour. They are more common than you may realize.  People also feel shame when they are stuck with this repetitive behaviour. This is the reason they don’t talk about their issues because of embarrassment and shame.

 

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