I am someone who does this quite a lot, generally in situations in which I am anxious as I have discovered that this is where my habits seem to form.
Another habit of mine is 'subconscious face scratching' or Dermatillomania. This all started when I started reading as I used it as a way to stay in the other world that the writer had created and that I am imagining.
I have suffered with aggressive spot break outs on my face and body for as long as I can remember and obviously never liked that fact. Since then I had developed a habit of consciously picking at my face whenever I encountered a mirror and could see my problematic areas. After gaining this as a habit it became a security thing, like how some people have a special blanket or others suck their thumb, I would pick at my face.
Since then I have found my hands wondering up to and around my face seeing if there is anything new, I think as a way to help soothe any anxiety and to help me concentrate on what ever I was doing. This is surprisingly, one of the hardest habits for me to break as it aids me in so many situations that I find myself in day-to-day.
I have high hopes of being able to free myself of both of these habits as they both cause me great frustration after the fact. I constantly research different ways to over come strong habits and have yet not had much luck however, I have found that exercising more and improving my eating habits - not eating as much high-sugar-content foods and eating more regularly - has vastly improved not only my wants to pick at my skin but also my need to.
Natasha
