I've been a picker for about 20 years. I also rock back and forth and wring my hands a lot (I have Asperger's syndrome). Those things, and the picking, are how I calm myself when I am worried or stressed out. I pick at my scalp and my ears and have scarring on my face because whenever I get a blemish I can never leave it alone - I have to dig it out. I also pick at my cuticles, sometimes until they bleed. I do these things mostly when I am alone, but once in awhile I will find myself picking at my head when I'm sitting with my boyfriend, if we're having a disagreement or are talking about things that are stressful.

Right now as I'm typing I keep pausing to pick at myself

Several posts mentioned kind of zoning out while picking - I do that frequently.

I've had several different Ts and pdocs through the years and have really never discussed it with any of them. I've been told I have obsessive-compulsive traits but not full-blown OCD.