What Support May Look Like for BFRBs (Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors)
What Support May Look Like for BFRBs (Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors)
Like many neurodivergent conditions, society is generally ignorant to the ways BFRBs, or Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, impact our day-to-day living. Due to a host of health issues that can and do occur as a result of engaging in BFRBs (pain, spreading of germs, illness, infection, scarring, balding, etc.), BFRBs are highly stigmatized, which can make living with them feel extremely isolating and can contribute to feelings of guilt and shame that often further complicates accessing support.
People are usually quick to judge that these behaviors should be “extinguished”, but don’t realize that the need in which the BFRB appears to help regulate remains long after the habit ceases. Nor are the consequences of ignoring the need to regulate well-discussed (i.e. dysregulation, contribution to burnout).
If behavior is communication, then I’m here to reiterate that BFRBs may or may not indicate an emotional issue such as anxiety. Instead, for people like me and many others, BFRBs are most often a result of an attempt to fill some sort of sensory need (i.e. self-stimulatory behavior) to help the person regulate sensory needs, and this element is often left out of the discussion around BFRBs.
For people living with “unhealthy” stims like BFRBs, support does exist. Seeking support may look like:
- educating others about how to support you best, or self-advocating for accommodations such as fidgets to help with concentration in settings that are likely to trigger BFRBs
- joining a support group, such as those offered by The TLC Foundation for BFRBs, or PickingMe Foundation
- attending regular therapy sessions (therapists can help you determine your triggers and strategies to counteract unhealthy impulses)
- seeing a dermatologist that is educated in treating BFRBs in an affirming way
- setting yourself up for success by making lifestyle changes that take into account sensory needs, and then setting appropriate boundaries in response to ensure those needs will be met:
- adopting use of tools and strategies that prevent the desire to pick or chew ahead of time (i.e. hydrocolloid pimple patches, gloves, lotion, band-aids, chewing gum, etc.)
- consider creating a stim drawer, full of BFRB alternatives such as fidgets and tools to keep your hands busy
- incorporate more supportive self-grooming habits
- adjusting your environment to make it more conducive to engaging less in self-grooming by making changes such as covering mirrors, being followed by a psychiatrist to trial medication
- keeping quality skin products on-hand and integrate regular skin treatments, such as face masks or hand masks to keep skin smooth and less-likely to be a trigger (CeraVe and The Ordinary are my personal favorites)
- regular exercise (it not only keeps your body busy, but may help regulate over or under-stimulation)
Ultimately, you want to learn the triggers that make engaging in the unhealthy stim more likely, so that you can adapt ways to alter the consequential parts about them, while still filling whatever need stim seeks to fill. For me, this continues to be a struggle, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t experienced success in managing my BFRBs more effectively than I have in the past. The key becomes understanding yourself in such a way that you can adapt healthier habits that will meet your needs and enable you to express your most authentic, healthy, self.
To learn more about BFRBs and/or stimming:
The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
To learn more about BFRBs and/or stimming:
The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
PickingMe Foundation
Neuroclastic
Brittney Geary
About the Author
As a neurodivergent school psychologist and self- advocate, Brittney Geary, MEd CAGS utilizes her experience as an autistic, ADHD, learning-disabled person to inform her professional practice.
She has over a decade of experience having served as a consultant and research assistant in autism research, a coach for neurodivergent adults, a school psychologist in several public school districts, a mentor and a volunteer for several neurodiversity-affirming organizations internationally. Additionally, she is familiar with supporting others in managing commonly co-occurring physical, mental, and neurological health conditions.
She is passionate about promoting disability awareness through sharing lived experience, education and valuable resources, and would love to connect with like-minded individuals & organizations who share a common goal to embrace neurodiversity and enable neurodivergent individuals to lead more authentic lives