15 years ago, in 4th grade, I fell onto a sharp desk corner and got a small cut on my upper lip. I started picking at the wound, never letting it heal. It has healed, but ever since then, I've been picking my lips. Upper and lower. I do it when I'm bored, nervous, or anxious. It's strangely cathartic, but the fun stops once I make them bleed. The habit is at its most tempting in the drier seasons, when my lips get all chapped. And since I live in a dry climate (I despise humidity), it's going to be a very difficult habit to stop. I cannot tell you how much lip balm/lip therapy products I own, and I've tried all the tips and tricks I found online (tying a string around my finger, holding something else in my hands, etc.), but I'm afraid as long as it does feel good to me (aka when I can do it without making them bleed), I'll probably never stop. At least it's benign.

I've also had a habit of picking at my eyelashes and eyebrows, not to the same extent, but I've been doing it more and more over the past few months. Maybe it'll distract me from harassing my lips.

What are your guys' bad habits? I feel like most people have at least one. And I'm not talking substance addictions here, that's another topic, I mean just frequent physical tendencies or routines.

I pick at my eyebrows sometimes but my biggest bad habit is pulling skin at my fingernails.

I also pick at my lips, but with my teeth -- no string tying is gonna help lol.. I've gotten to the point where I don't do it every day or week or month, but if I mess something up skincare wise and my lips get chapped for whatever reason, you can bet I'll be peeling an outer layer off as soon as I feel it!

i smoke cigarettes and drink a lot of black coffee so i'd say that's a bad habit? but i don't wanna stop ;; not substance related oops--

i bite my nails sometimes gross

I have that weird habit of scrunching up my nose at pretty much everything haha.

Same as . I do it when I'm thinking or worrying about something. It used to be the nails, I don't remember what changed. No idea how to stop though.

Scratching/picking at my face when anxious is definitely up there.

Nail biting!

I twist my face while talking to people when I'm wearing a mask, to try and make up the loss of expressiveness. Not sure but I probably look crazy doing it oops. It's an impulse.

I'm guilty of some of these. I think its a natural grooming behavior of animals to remove dead matter from ourselves, much like the process of shedding fur. Maybe we do them absentmindedly as a comfort thing, like it gives us a satisfying sense that were in control of our bodies and are productive in cleaning it. It's just not always actually productive, or overdone, or done at inappropriate times. :p

Picking my noise and picking at acne. ;A;

Same as a few others here, I pick at any skin near my fingernails. This is really gross but I'll sit there with tweezers and dig into the sides of my nails looking for more skin to rip off. ;___; Painting them usually helps!

Also similar to , once I get a cut or rash or anything, I'll pick at it and totally prolong the healing process. )))): really nasty habits

On a more cheerful and less disgusting note, I do drink like 3 cups of coffee a day! It just tastes soooo good.

Oh man, I sometimes pick at my acne too, and then it just makes everything worse and the cycle continues. It's not one of my more regular habits but it's definitely something I wind up doing consistently. I'm trying to do it less these days, especially after going out in public with what's going on, but it's so hard.

Ah, the classic. My sister bit her nails pretty bad when she was younger. I've never had that habit myself, but I should ask her how she stopped. May help me with mine.

That's interesting, I've actually been making faces under my mask while I'm at work. I work supply chain in a hospital so I'm often in aisles alone and I can make all the faces I want. I don't know if it's because I'm bored or if I feel like my face has been too stiff. I do smile at other people in the hallway though.

I feel your pain...face-picking is the worst, because our faces have so many things to pick in the first places. Eyes, lips, acne, etc. Ugh.

Huh, never heard of that one. But I believe it. It's kind of like the face-scrunching that Holden mentioned, just more specific.

That's a tough one. Can't exactly do much when you use your teeth.

I never had many nail-related habits but I do remember a period during grade school where I would obsess over hangnails. When I got older I got a hangnail remover tool and luckily my habit of using my fingers has gone away. I keep one remover at home and one in my car, because they always seem to crop up when I'm out and about.

Yup, that's pretty accurate. Our bodies have this amazing ability to heal, and yet why is it so tempting for us to screw it up? Haha

Apologies for my late reply to y'all, I've been online but I somehow forgot I created this thread. Lol.

I pick at my skin and cuticles, i know its bad but sometimes i dont even notice im doing it lol

I pick my nose the dry skin on my bottom lip.

I bite my nails and don't always floss. I also mutter to myself all the time; everyone in my family does. I'm terrified I'll be muttering to myself during a work zoom meeting and leave the mic one.

I twirl and pull my hair out.. I have a bald spot in front of my head... I am trying my hardest to stop. I put headbands on my head to keep me from doing it.

Recently, I've been spending waaaaaay too many hours on here. Since we can create pets with any damn name we please, I've been going nuts. I spend a lot of my free time making profiles, writing stories, filling treasures, and planning more pets, lol. The problem is, my points are going down really fast and I'm having trouble replenishing them. I need to make myself do quests every day. But in my defense...fuckin' rona, lol.

I know, it's gross, but I try to stop. I can't stop picking my nose. It's a habit since I was very, very young.

Spending money as a form of anxiety management. (Which doesn't work, because I worry about not having money)

i peel the dry skin off my lips; i have since i was young, and it's just. stuck. i hate using chapstick cus it makes anything i eat or drink taste like wax. :grimace:

i also have a habit of just. muttering to myself, because it helps me puts my thoughts in order better than just silently sitting there, staring into the void. that's also something i've been doing since i was young, not as destructive as my lip-picking habit, but it freaks people out if i don't realize they're there while i'm mumbling to myself 😅