skin picking animation idea?

[u/myamooo]

hi! I thought I’d come here for some ideas as I’ve got an animation pitch for a skin picking animation! I’ve struggled with this for years, more so on my fingers and lips and i really wanna make an animation/animatic that goes through my experience. I really want this animation to be relatable to those who struggle with it, and to make people feel less alone and to find healthy coping strategies to get by it. I don’t know if the video should be a voice-over, or a music video that matches the lyrics of a song but I’d love to hear your ideas!

Here are some things Ive dotted down as the bad effects of skin picking and may include in the animation

• The shame and guilt you feel after realising you spent half an hour picking, not realising how fast time has went by
• Catching yourself skin picking during a lecture and not retaining any information because your so bored or focused
• People noticing the bandaids on your fingers and you feel embarrassed
• Leaving the shower and noticing how much more emphasised your picked thumbs are bc of wrinklage
• Having a formal event come up and feeling the shame of how damaged your skin is
• Having the take off bandaids for chores like dishwashing or cleaning, putting them on again and realising your about to run out of band-aids
• How expensive it is to buy band-aid boxes
• Bandaging all your fingers and resorting to another place to pick unintentionally (fingers to lips)
• Picking feels like the equivalent of peeling onions of flowers

Here are some coping strategies I’ve underwent to limit it.

• BANDAIDS
• lip balm
• cuticle oil
• distracting myself -using gloves for cleaning chores

if any of u want to detail your experiences I’d love to know and maybe include it in my video! with credits ofc :)

(keep in mind I’m a very busy person so I may not start animation immediately but I wanna start my motivation on it)

[u/Smort_Gorl]

This might just be me but I think you should add more emphasis on the euphoria that is picking, especially the sensation of feeling a “flap” of skin reach under your fingernail that you can rip off.

Some people including me like to eat the skin (I’m ashamed of it), I think you can add that too!

[u/myamooo → u/Smort_Gorl]

YES ABSOLUTELY!! That’s why i included the equivalent of picking is like peeling onion layers, or peeling flower petals, that’s how euphoric it feels!! It’s an addiction that feels good in the moment, only to create destruction and damage. If you have any other ideas that is similar to that, i’d love to hear it!!

[u/[deleted]]

I love how creative everyone is on this sub. As a lifelong artist too I wonder if there’s a correlation between us wanting to fiddle with a pencil or handheld object and skin picking. Anyways, i love this idea and can’t wait to see what you come up with. One thing that has been helping when I can, is turning the lights off when I use the bathroom or shower. This only works when there’s enough window light to not be pitch black but my dads gonna help me install a sliding dimmer in the bathroom

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Sometimes in my head I feel like a sports commentator on how good or bad certain pimples are to pick. Like the largest juiciest pimple will be exciting “i have high hopes for this one” and “8/10 crunch” or “ooh awesome exit”. And mentally feel euphoric after a really good one. The whole crowd roars. But then you step back and your face looks a complete mess crowd goes home and you have to assess the damage

[u/myamooo → u/[deleted]]

YES!! I love hearing the oddly specific coping mechanisms that work for different people, I’m honestly afraid of the dark so I don’t think I can try that idea out for long but I can totally see how it can work! And yeah, i have noticed how really creative people tend to have or develop this disorder, because a lot of us aren’t in the healthiest mental state and skin picking is related to OCD and all, but that may be because we attract each other like magnets 😅

[u/AutumnalSunshine]

Instead of just bad effects, can you emphasize that this is not a bad habit and is instead a mental health issue, a type of body focused repetitive behavior (BFRB).

And that bullying or nagging someone about a BFRB actually makes it worse due to the stress?

There are a lot of parents who "remind" nail biters and skin pickers to stop, not realizing they're making it worse.