Do you have a skin picking disorder from past trauma?
I've had this problem for years. I don't have the kind of skin picking disorder where I pick holes in my skin from nothing. Like I had a coworker many years ago who had round scars all up and down his arms because he used to just pick holes in his skin. But I will pick at dry skin and scabs over and over again, making them take months to heal.
It's always on my face, often on my nose. I'll randomly get a dry patch of skin and I'll pick it off several times, making it bigger and worse than it usually started out at as. With the top layer of skin gone, I'll have a small patch of exposed raw skin that's difficult to hide with makeup because the skin is raw. I often feel embarrassed and mortified because I feel like I'm wearing my OCD / past childhood trauma on my face for everyone to see!
Last year, I kept one going on my face for legit six months. I just could not let it heal. I'm now battling another one that's been ongoing for about two months. As soon as it starts to get dry and crusty, I will peel it off again. I feel like I have no control over it.
I've noticed I do it when I'm sitting at my computer mostly, or sometimes lying in bed looking at my phone. Always when I'm sitting though and my hands are relatively free. I never do it if I'm out and about running errands or working out, etc. I also think I do it more when I'm stressed.
For the briefest overview, I had physical, mental, emotional abuse growing up, and sexual abuse by my mom.
Is this a form of anxiety or past childhood trauma? I honestly don't know if I'm looking for something to blame for this, or if I would be this way anyway. A random psych test said it was due to childhood trauma. I hate that I can't control this. I literally just made this patch on my face 10x worse because I force-peeled off a large piece of skin that had been healing well over the past two days :(