Finger Picking

[phoebe_madissen]

I have a terrible habit of picking at the skin around my fingers. I've been doing it since elementary school and when I get stressed out or nervous it gets worse and worse and they'll start bleeding and it's just not good. My fingers are permanently red and puffy and sometimes they start bleeding at random times and I've tried everything to try to stop the habit but I do it without thinking even when I'm sleeping. It's super embarrassing when people ask what's wrong with my fingers and when I'm picking on them in class I feel like everyone is watching me and I hate it but I can't not do it. It also sucks because I love performing and I can't do it anymore because playing guitar or piano draws attention to my hands and after I perform people always ask what's wrong with my hands and I feel like crying. It's so embarrassing and they're really ugly and I worry that no one's ever going to want to hold hands with me because my fingers are so awful to look at.