Compulsions...how to stop?

[EmilyR6]

I don't perform rituals or have any common thoughts/anxieties associated with OCD. However, I regularly engage in picking and compulsive behaviors - seemingly always when I'm bored/unoccupied. There are two behaviors that I switch off between: Picking at my scalp and trying to bite the papillae off of my tongue. I know it's weird... I've looked around online, but I can't seem to find hardly anyone who shares this second behavior! I'm very confused as to why I do these things and can't remember when or why I started.
The second behavior is painful - and I recognize that it's painful - but it feels satisfying somehow. I usually engage in these behaviors when I'm not fully occupied (not quite "bored", but not quite fully engaged). For example, when I'm watching a movie/TV show, reading a book, doing homework, surfing the internet, etc. It gives me the feeling of having "something to do". I just can't sit still and concentrate on a single activity, so I unconsciously start doing these things. I'm even biting my tongue as I type this, for god's sake! Then...if a swollen taste bud/papillae forms from the initial biting (which it usually does), it irritates me so much that I have to remove it with further biting/picking/whatever it takes!
I've been doing these things for years...maybe over a decade (and I'm only 20). I can continue to do them, because they're not easily noticeable by others and have little consequence. But I really just want to stop. I can't say how many times I've tried - so many. But I just can't seem to. I might go for a week without doing anything, and then, when I'm spacing out, I'll pick up the behaviors unconsciously. It's so frustrating... =(

[Toasty12]

I'm saddened but relieved that I'm not the only one who picks and bites her tongue. As I write this, I just ended a three hour session of picking the white scar tissue from healing sores then searching for the perfect spot on my tongue to nip off with the clippers. I must have spit and rinsed 30 times. Right now, the need to pick and bite has abated. In the morning, I'll regret this when I try to eat. I know it will heal in a few days....only for the cycle to start again. Why do I do this? I want to stop. It's been a good 40 years I've been doing this. I'll turn 50 in July.

[teen_chick]

Omigod I pick/bite/tear of my taste buds to!!! I thought i was the only one out there! I've been doing it since I was 12 at the beginning of 7th grade (2011). It started when I had a swollen, white tastebud that had some how gotten there. I had decided to get rid of it by biting it from there. Then some how, it escalated from there. At first when I had gotten into the habit, it was painfull, but I did it anyway. Now it's so bad that I do it so much I jerk my head because I tear so many off. I've gotten so used to swallowing the blood that it doesn't bother me anymore! I wish all day that I could stop but I can't. It's like what everyone else said. It stings and burns but somehow, it satisfies me when I keep ripping those spots off. It's like an addiction to a drug in a weird way. Sometimes tears pour down my face, and my face turns red, and there's so much blood I can't swallow it all and I spit it all out in the sink, but I just can't stop!!! Chewing on gum really helps me because I try to pop really big bubbles, but I chew on it so much, I easily run out( of gum)  then I go back to biting. It seems like it's endless, and as the months go by, it only seems worse. Sometimes I go a whole week without doing it, but then I go back. So many times I've woke up with a swollen white tongue with missing patches of taste buds. After reading everyone's comments, I realized I did NOT want this nasty habit for eternity.

             -Anonymous, Desperate, Freshman Chick

[carolloc]

I too used to bite the tastebuds off.  I started as a small child up until I was around 35.  I realized I started this behavior as a means to sooth/distract from my emotional distress as a child.  As an adult, I would find myself doing it unconsciously and once started I couldn't stop.  I would finally get salt and put it on the raw area and it would burn to almost a climax (not sexually) and then I would come down exhausted from the pain but relieved.  So weird but it was pleasure with the pain.  I noticed I did this most when I was anxious. I no longer bite, mainly I believe because I'm at peace spiritually.  I think for those that still bite, try keeping a journal and record what happened before the biting began, your emotions how you felt before, during, and after.  Maybe this will help shed light on why you do it and knowing why is half the battle.

[griissyy]

Omg I have the same problem I bite my tongue a lot and as soon as it starts healing, I bite that part off again.. if I can't it with my teeth I will use my ginger nails or I have gone as far as using my tweezers! I'm 21 and I've been doing this since I was 10. I also don't know what it is & today I decided to look into it because I want to stop!!

[kettlesh]

I'm 31 and have done this to my tongue and inside of my mouth for about 20 years. I too thought I was the only person that did this. What a relief! I go a few months of not doing at all and then a good few weeks of none stop biting. I too do this when watching tv or at work on the computer. It's quite bad at the moment but I know I only have a few more weeks until I have a dentist appt so will ensure I leave it to heal in time. Nobody knows I do this as I'm so embarrassed but I just cannot stop until I know I must e.g dentist etc. It's such an odd thing!! Even though it gets quite sore it's still quite soothing. Weird huh?! I am a normal person too besides this. Happily married mother of two with a good job. It's funny too to read the comments about picking at your scalp as this is a new thing for me, started doing it a couple of months back. Never thought it might be connected to the tongue picking.

[Antonia1227]

I have the same problem I'm biting my toungue right now and I can't stop until I feel like I can't go anymore.i honesty dont know why but i haven't done it for a while and then it started up again.do u think it could be related to stress?