There are many ways you can go about tracking your body-focused repetitive behavior(BFRB). You can use apps, a calendar, your notebook, etc. But what exactly are you going to track? What’s your goal?
Here I will show you different ways of tracking so you can gain awareness about your BFRB.
Tracking Your Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Sessions
One of the ways to bring awareness to your BFRB is writing down the date, time, where the pulling occurred(location/situation), the urge intensity, thoughts and feelings before and after, how long, where you performed your BFRB, and more if your want.
Wooo! Sounds like a lot. But I promise there are easy ways to track this. And I’ll explain why writing this information helps.
This helps bring awareness, and you can begin seeing patterns in your hair pulling(trichotillomania), skin picking(dermatillomania), chewing, etc. You may also realize that you perform your BFRB in situations that didn’t originally come to mind. Similar thoughts and patterns can emerge.
There are two apps available called Trichstop and Skinpick. Both are attached to therapy programs that you’ll have to pay for, but the apps are free for everyone. They’re available on both iPhone and Android.
Anyone with any BFRB can use them. You can pick the one that you identify with more.
You can enter all of the information I listed above into the drop-down boxes in the app. It’s already created; you can enter your information.
There are various graphs you can look at to help you see patterns. For example, there is a button called “Pulling episodes per day.” You can choose “Last 7 days”, “Last 30 days”, etc. Then it brings up a graph. This is extremely helpful if you see that you pull around the same time of day. You can dive in a little deeper and see why exactly you pull around the same time of day. What is happening at that time?
You also have the option of sending the report of your logging information in a PDF to a person of your choice or therapist.
Do your best with logging. If you forget to log, that’s okay. You can always switch the date or time. But logging consistently can give you greater awareness about your BFRB.
Timer Apps
Some people prefer using a timer in an app to see how long they have gone without pulling their hair or picking their skin. Most of the common ones are:
One of the things I like about the I Am Sober app is the community section. You can post achievements and see other people’s progress if they share it.
The thing to be careful about with timer apps is that they don’t get the full picture. Everyone’s story and progress are unique. The idea with timer apps is to press the reset button if you did whatever you are supposed to quit. That can cause a lot of pressure to be pull-free and very hard on oneself when things don’t happen the way you plan.
I used timer apps for a while. But eventually, I created a reward chart that allows me to see my accomplishments and give myself something when I met a goal. You can check it out here and get a free reward chart for yourself!
Printable Tracker
In case you don’t want to use an app, I created a printable tracker so you can print it out and have something physical to write on. In addition, I made it editable, so if you use Adobe Acrobat(free version), you can use your computer and save it instead of printing (or don’t have access to a printer). Click here to get access to the printable tracker.
If you do print it out, I recommend keeping it someplace where you’ll definitely know to look at it—for example, your dresser or nightstand. You can put it in a binder or notebook if you want it to be covered.
Track Your Own Way
You don’t have to use premade items either. If you want to track your own way, go for it! The most important thing is to bring awareness to when you’re picking, pulling, biting, etc. You can use a notebook or keep notes on your phone or any other way you can think of.
Final Thoughts
Becoming more aware of when you perform your BFRB can help you realize how much you’re doing it, where, certain times of day, etc. It’s important to keep track, even if it’s just for a couple of weeks. That will help you to see patterns and what you can do.
Tracking when you pull by using a timer app can help some people reach goals, but be careful of an all-or-nothing mindset.
All in all, becoming more aware is one of the most important parts of breaking the chain in your BFRB.