Body-focused repetitive behavioral disorder

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In body-focused repetitive behavior disorder, people repeatedly engage in activities that involve their body, such as nail biting, lip biting, or cheek chewing, and repeatedly try to stop the activities.

People with body-focused repetitive behavior disorder may feel tense or anxious just before they do it, and picking at or biting parts of their body may relieve that feeling.
Doctors diagnose the disorder when people pick at or bite parts of their body enough to damage it, try to stop their behavior and cannot, and are significantly distressed by their behavior or function less well because of it.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy that specifically focuses on body-focused repetitive behavior disorder and certain antidepressants or N-acetylcysteine may help lessen symptoms.

Body-focused repetitive behavior disorder is similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder. People with body-focused repetitive behavior disorder compulsively pick, pull, or tug at one or more parts of their body. They may bite their nails or lips, chew their cheeks, or pick at their nails.
Hair pulling and skin picking are also body-focused repetitive behaviors but are classified as separate disorders.