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... =(

[Wolfiee]

Anyone here constantly rubbing tongue agains lower teeth? I cant stop. Please help :( Its been months now..

[specialmom]

I am just not thinking this is a compulsion as related to OCD. Remember, compulsions in OCD are repetitive behaviors that you feel driven to perform. These repetitive behaviors or mental acts are meant to reduce anxiety related to your obsessions or prevent something bad from happening.  You are clearly having an impulse you can't stop but it sounds different than an obsessive compulsive compulsion.

[Wolfiee]

I thought the same. With me, this actually makes my anxiety worse. I dont know how to stop :( It all started when I chipped my lower front tooth. They polished it but cannot repair, because my lower teeth are crooked. Since then I am doing this and cannot find a way to stop. I am taking anti anxiety medication but it doesnt help :(

[specialmom]

Yes, I read your other post. Let's pop over to that one for further discussion.

[MarAbigail]

Sometimes babies born addicted to hard drugs I read can develop o.c.d. I think they're just starting to connect the dots. I have struggled with undiagnosed ocd all my life. Bc it is so hard to explain and how embarrassing it is, i hid it for yrs even from my psychs doctors. I struggle with pica (eating non-edibles) biting the sides of my mouth and yes, tongue too, as well as pulling my hair from my dcalp and doing different things in even numbers and not being able to function unless these rituals were completed. Meanwhile it has controlled my life, and sabatauged my college work and disrupted my relationships. I feel your pain Emily. I feel the frustration deeply. These things are not fatal but they leave you feeling like you've a seperate entity. Almost like a dbl life or life form within you. It is a living mental hell on earth and we need these things to cease making us miserable. I take one day at a time and talk to God about these things. That helps me a lot. Other than that medicine hasn't helped me at all, but I have a lot of hope in my heart that the words we use to connect with others going through the same things is what makes it all worth while. We all are on this planet to help each other heal, and be blessed. I really believe that. Have a beautiful day! :)

[Byeee96]

I have the same exact problems. The tongue biting feels great. The pain makes me tense up and as much as i try to convince myself to stop doing it, i just wont stop. Usually I'll chew off my tongue so bad that i cant eat right for the next few days! I have a bad history of depression and anxiety. I just want to stop self mutilating. My life is great in general now, but the tongue biting is my weakness... & as for the scalp picking goes, i do it almost every night. It's oddly very calming. That's been going on since i was around 12 years old. I am 20 now. Tongue biting started around age 13. When i was around ages 3 to 6 i would bite my inner lip until i bled. Loved the pain but always regretted it. Also when i was younger (4-7) i would tale dental floss and purposely make my gums bleed running it back and forth through my teeth. I think all of this is linked to anxiety... took me until this year to realize my self mutilating patterns and add them up from the time i was just a toddler up to my adulthood.

[Byeee96]

Forgot to add, i was into hair pulling for a year or two. I would feel the thickest strands and pull them out of my head. Started off with one by one until i found myself ripping out chunks at a time...

[Kyle5836]

Oooooooooomg I seriously thought I was the only person in the world that does this... smh there's a big relief to know that I'm not alone. I've been doing this sense I was 11 I believe and now I'm 25. I  tend to do it when I'm not fully occupied and when one of my taste buds are bigger then the other I do bite it to even it out and then after a while when it heals my tongue will have white patches, and it'll make my tongue look really gross. I really can not help it. And seriously need help.

[Tdek]

I feel the same I thought I was the only person that did this.... right now my tongue hurts so bad from be biting it for two day... What the Hell is wrong with me. I even bit the skin on the inside of my lips. I have done this for as long as I can remember but have told no one! When I was little my parents thought I just got ulcers all the time from juice and started trying to change my diet... I was to embarrassed to tell the what I was doing. Now I am 39 and for some reason it’s like an addiction. This is the first time I have ever looked up to see if anyone else’s did this. I actually googled is biting your taste buds harmful to your health and it brought me here.... I still feel like I am crazy but it’s really nice to know I am not the only one.

[Yooj]

I am 54 and have had a tongue biting problem for most of my life. (I have a history of depression and anxiety disorder.). I don't do it unless I somehow get a little spot of sensitivity on my tongue, from rubbing against some sharp edge inside my mouth for example. Once I have that little focus point, though, it's a compulsion to keep going back at it, rubbing it, biting it and even poking or rubbing it with external items like a torn piece from a plastic cover for a coffee cup.  There is a strange pleasure in the pain and both increase together.  In recent months I've tried the following approach, with some success: I focus mentally on the sore spot and then imagine the pain-pleasure of biting it without actually doing that. It's meditative in that my mind is really focused on that spot and on experiencing the pain-pleasure as real. The idea is to allow whatever neurotransmitters are involved to flow as they otherwise would while actually letting my tongue heal, knowing that, once it's pain-free, I'll have no impetus to go at it.

[Morgan1835]

Emily I do the EXACT same thing with my tongue! That is actually why I am on this website: to see if anyone else in the world does this and why I do it. Everything you said describes it to a T! So you are not alone and if you have gotten any information about this please let me know!

[Alixswann]

I pick on my tongue with my nails by pinchingoing. I do it at night. I usually wake up in the middle of the night doing it. At the time it feels so good I can't stop. The more of my tongue I rip of the better it feels. No one can tell me why I do it. I've literally taken off the end of my tongue. Then the pain of the recovery is horrible!! My tongue will be covered in puss. The only thing that helps is if I get up right after and pore hydrogen peroxide on my tongue for several minutes. Somehow that helps the pain of recovery and keeps the puss from forming on my tongue. I have terrible anxiety and I find myself doing it during times of stress.

[XxThatOneGurlxX]

I have been biting the tip and sides of my tongue for at least fifteen years. I'm almost 28 now. I only do it when I feel that one of my tastebuds is inflamed or raised up above the others. Maybe every other month. Once I pick off that first one, it's a blood bath in my mouth for hours. I hate it, but at the same time, I love the pain, the blood, and the satisfaction I get from it.

My heart goes out to those of you who do this more often than I do. I understand your want to stop, but I also know that "just one more and I stop" feeling.

The only advice I have to give is, use ice! After I catch myself biting, I grab a paper towel, make it damp, and wrap it around an ice cube. Press that bad boy against your tongue until it's numb and the urge to pick settles down. We all searched and found this page for a reason. We know it's not a good habit and it's time to try to stop. After ten years of smoking, I gave it up three years ago, and stopping the biting is way harder, but I have faith in you and me.

Just know that you're not alone,

Jessica

[SpoonFull]

I feel the same way to the T! And I am 30yrs old! Usually after the first bite on the inflamed bud I have to make it even and flat. I run the side Im biting along my lips to make sure its smooth like the other side. . . This round its been a month Ive been at it and I CANT STOP. maybe for a day or so to heal then bam Im trying to talk myself down from biting but I have failed this WHOLE MONTH. Then I go nuts putting chap stick on so my lips dont break. Omg i just admitted this out loud!

[sragland8]

I'm 18 years old and I have been biting my tastebuds off for as long as I can remember. Only my girlfriend knows about it, and she wants me to stop. And I will try to stop, but it only usually lasts about a week. It may be longer sometimes. Once my tongue heals it's like my memory of actually doing it has been erased/blurred, so it feels like it's been a lot longer since I've last done it than it actually has. I've only recently noticed this. I do it subconsciously, but once I notice I'm doing it, I have to finish that area. When it starts healing I continue biting because the unevenness of my tongue bothers me and I have to make it even and smooth again (I know this delays the healing process, but hey the tongue is the fastest healing part on our whole body (; ). Anyways, I know it's not an anxiety thing, or a boredom thing (for the most part), I just really have an oral fixation. I need to have something in my mouth, or my mouth on something, or just keep my mouth busy (which explains my being overweight, but that's another story). I also used to bite the sides of my fingers really badly, like the thick parts on the sides of the actual nail all the way down to my knuckle, mostly on my thumbs. However, I read somewhere once, that by chewing gum, you're distracting your mouth, and I found that it helps me. It keeps my mouth busy, doesn't hurt me, doesn't make me gain weight, and it tastes good! So try gum if your story sounds similar to mine! Just remember to keep your pockets stocked, cuz I know if I don't have gum I'm right back to biting (like now).

[Dia_loves_you]

I have been biting my tongue since I was around 9 or 10 (I'm 18 now). I pick off my taste buds with my teeth, fingers, nail clippers, or tweezers. It's a satisfying pain that I like and hate at the same time. I take off the taste buds anywhere on my tongue. These sessions usually last so long that my jaw starts to sieze up from being in the same position. I don't notice it when I start, but by the time I do notice, its too late. I CANNOT stop. I can't speak to anyone fluently. I make short conversation just so I can go back to biting. I'm sooo scared I'm going to get an infection or cancer one day. And it scares my family members around me :(  No one understands it. Hell, I don't even understand it. My boyfriend bought me a pacifier and it worked until I didn't have the pacifier with me one day and I went crazy with the biting. I don't have anything else wrong with me besides the fact that I get really anxious sometimes.

[Hannah_Somerhalder103101]

I started doing this in December 2014 so it hasn't been that long, i was just looking up what it meant. So thanks everyone for helping me understand what this obsession may mean.  

[lam1968]

Im 46 and have biting taste buds and the sides of my mouth and lips all my life. I would love to stop.  I do no other obsessive behavior or self harm.

[BobbieJohn]

I currently started biting the taste buds off of my tongue as well. When I notice that I have a swollen taste bud, I do everything to get rid of it––even if it means picking it, and all of the taste buds around it, off with my nails. I am both O.C.D. and schizophrenic, so I'm not without other problems, but I just wanted you to know that there are people who do this other than yourself.

[BobbieJohn]

I currently started biting the taste buds off of my tongue as well. When I notice that I have a swollen taste bud, I do everything to get rid of it––even if it means picking it, and all of the taste buds around it, off with my nails. I am both O.C.D. and schizophrenic, so I'm not without other problems, but I just wanted you to know that there are people who do this other than yourself.

[Tezkatlipoc]

I have been doing this now for about 35 years. I developed it as a child. My home life was not good and I liken it into cases where abused dogs gnaw off of their fur. In many of the accounts in the posts I have seen many similar traits as me, some that are not at all, and some mixes. Usually at a stress time my teeth will find a sweet bump and it goes from there. At times I am able to do a gnaw or 2, and sometimes it evolves into biting, nails, and a very few times I will use clippers. The amount of blood is incredible. The pain is a bit exhilarating and calming. I usually will do it until a patch is gone or there are times where it is a deeper process that goes into leaving a deep hole right about the tip . As a few mentioned, there was cheek gnawing as a child but that went away. It was all about the tongue. Just thought I would share. I decided to post because I just got done with doing it and it occurred to me to look up a name of the disorder or compilation and to maybe get an idea as to how prevalent it is. Mabey it was more common...

[AlisonAWest]

I do this too. In the last two years I have been diagnosed with OCD, MDD, ADD, PD, and GAD. My two biggest compulsions are biting my taste buds off, and picking at sores on my skin. It's relentless. I bite my tastebuds off so bad to the point that I have had issues with growing them back on the tip of my tongue and gone months without tasting salt. I have done this behaviour since before I can remember. I have tried Cognative Behavioral Therapy and gum, bite plates, stress balls. ANYTHING to stop, but nothing works. I bite until the pain makes my stomach nauseous. I can't stop until tears are flowing down my face. You are not alone, and I hope we both find relief soon.

[moderngman]

Hi there. Hope you found the answers you were looking for. This has been a mindless habit for me too for years, and it drove me crazy once or twice. I believe it is a nervous thing, and a way to hydrate your mouth. We can be dehydrated long before we are thirsty.
Biting the tongue can also be an easy way to squirt some endorphins and trigger pain receptors.
A sad habit of denial is to try harder. Some emotion unfulfillment may make use chase this "false dragon" so to speak, and being aware of it is not enough. We have to let go of something that may be toxic, may not be for us. That may mean forgetting, forgiving, letting go, something.
Our brains will always like a cheap thrill, and quick fix. We just need better habits, and rewire our brains to get its rocks off in non-self destructive ways.
there is a good article in scientific american about habits. Check it out.

[JGF25]

You cut your tongue with clippers?  Okay, don't you think it is high time you saw a psychologist for this problem?  What have you been thinking all these years?  You obviously knew it wasn't normal.  Mental health issues are all over the map and you have one so get some help for it please.  It has become a nasty habit after 40 years but the good news for you is that habits can be broken with the right help.  Take care.  

[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?