Question
I've had a lifelong struggle with picking at my skin (OCD behaviors run rampant on my side of the family). I try not to do it in front of my kids though they might have observed it when I was doing it absent-mindedly. Anyway, my five-year-old daughter appears to be headed down the same path. If she gets a scab, it takes an extra-long time to heal because she picks it off so much. She often picks at her ears till they bleed (I did the same thing when I was her age, ears are strangely irresistible). I don't make a big deal of it except for reminding her that her scab won't heal if she picks at it. She usually does it when lying in bed or watching TV. If she comes to me with something bleeding I put a bandaid on it without making a fuss. Keeping the wound covered definitely helps stop the behavior (though you can't bandage ears). I've read about your success with hair-pulling, do you think any of your methods have a shot at helping her? I'd love to spare her the agony of standing in front of a mirror for hours as a pimply-faced teen.
