I'm not sure how long I've been doing it. And over the past few months it's gotten a lot worse at least once or twice a day. Maybe a year or so. And I'm doing it where I can cover it up. Its become very addictive. I've been dealing with severe depression and panic disorder for over 5 yrs. And my si started when I would either accidently cut or burn myself and it would always take away the pain that I was suffering from on the inside. And it just went from there.