Hello! I recently realised that I might be autistic off the back of my child's ADSD diagnosis. I have received a GP referral for an assessment but I haven't actually been formally diagnosed yet. Because of my son's ADHD and the strong link between ADHD and autism, I have been doing a lot of research on both.
One of the many things I found out is that skin-picking can be a form of stimming. I have never before considered my skin-picking as a stim but instead have always thought it was eczema, although interestingly (thinking back) these eczema have always appeared in places that I can easily hide, like the very bottom of my lower back and on the back of my neck just below the hairline (I have long hair), for example. The compulsive picking can become so bad at times that I would cry while picking because the patch of skin is raw and bleeding but I just could not stop, and no eczema ointment has ever helped, even when at times when I was prescribed with quite strong steroid cream. During the day I could sometimes stop myself from skin-picking through will power, but it's much harder at night time, especially if I wake up in the middle of the night and I start picking at my skin while I'm still drowsy, then I won't be able to stop myself and the skin-picking not only damage my skin, but it stops me from falling asleep again.
So my question is, has anyone here tried, or know of, a good way of replacing skin-picking stim with something else and worked? I would really appreciate it if I can find a way to stop picking at my skin!
Thanks!