Well, I'm not *glad* others suffer from this but am glad that more folks have posted! I think probably more people do this than we realize but who wants to admit it? "Oh, by the way, I sit and pick myself until I bleed, what do you do?"
I think it's a form of OCD, too, as I've heard--and experienced--that it relieves anxiety. And it is SO compulsive. It's true for me, too, that I can just find myself starting to pick without being totally conscious of it. I do know if I feel stressed in any way I am going to pick, often mercilessly. I try to tell myself it'll make me bleed or scar or take longer to heal but none of that works in the face of this overwhelming urge.
Sometimes I wonder if there is some self-harm issue to it as well. I am also a cutter but have done that far, far less than the picking. But still, I think/wonder does a "normal" person pick a scab til it is painful? Keep picking while it is painful and then bleeds all over the place? Whatever that impulse to not hurt oneself is, seems to be missing in terms of this. And I wonder if it is addictive, too? Both self-harm and addictive substances can cause endorphin and dopamine releases, so maybe these pathways are involved also.
I just wish I could figure out how to stop doing it! My once smooth skin is pretty sorry looking and these scars are deep and don't seem to go away with time. THat of course brings up my last internal question--am I trying to make my outsides match my insides--show the world my invisible hurts?
I think, at least for me but maybe for others too, that this issue goes deeper than it seems. Anyway, I wish for healing for all of us with this!