What is your worst habit? - True confessions by JD

Do you pick your skin for no reason? If so, is it a nervous habit or do you have chronic excoriation disorder/ dermatillomania? It's not easy but I want you to know that change is possible.

Bad habits stick in our brains and we do them repeatedly without even knowing a habit is forming. Bad habits that come from anxiety, boredom, or are learned. Things like smoking cigarettes, biting fingernails, swearing, overeating cookies, not picking up after yourself, forgetting to flush the toilet or using too much soap and shampoo ... the list goes on and on...and we do them unknowingly, repeatedly because they are tricky to break. The brain releases dopamine when you do bad habits. That means we get some good feeling and that is why we keep doing it. Our brains stop making good decisions because they see a cue, a routine, and a reward which is physical stimulation.

When I was younger, I was nervous in class a lot and I picked my fingers - often. Then I did it when I was bored learning in class. I started picking my fingers to the point they bled so much I had to get gauze and tape instead of an adhesive bandage.

It was so painful when I wrote my lesson plan or wrote my homework down. My friends and family members tried to make me stop but I could not because most of the time I did it without realizing it. I am actually still not totally over it. I almost was, I had completely stopped in Grade 10 but then stuff happened in Grade 11 and I was back to it. Habits are hard to break but you can work to get better.

We all have bad habits. You should not feel bad about them. I have other bad habits; I swear more than I should, I look up definitions too much, I read stuff when people are talking and I am tuning them out. Sometimes the writing on a milk carton can be more important to me than what my Mom is saying. What you need to decide is which bad habit is so bad you need to change it. Like which bad habits make you feel bad about yourself, are bad for you physically or which ones get you in trouble. Sometimes you need someone to help you see it is a problem. As I said, bad habits form without you knowing it.

What is your bad habit? I'd love to hear more from you and what works. Follow this link for a survey to fill out. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1knxa2MO5uuneTgp50YjStQEhY0EU8JFRnSsHhSXTHdg/edit

Strategies That Work for Me:

1. Write down one bad habit that you are trying to break - Be proactive

2. Learn to avoid your triggers- change the environment

3. Substitute your bad habit with a good habit

4. Believe that change is possible

5. Talk to others for suggestions.

Ask for someone else’s strategy and see if it works for you.

Check out this great video by Wellcast for more tips. I hope it helps...or makes you smile.