Another habit I am trying to stop is picking my nose and pulling my hair from my nose, and embarassingly eating it... I keep finding myself doing it. I wish I could stop. I keep telling my self that I am not determined enough, and that is why I can't stop. Hopefully I will be determined enough one day. Other people at work have caught me doing it, but they don't say anything. I try to hide it as much as possible, but I wasn't very successful at it.

This whole "unconcious habit" thing happens for a number of other habits too. Like going to the restroom for no good reason, for example. I just find my self going there.

This isn't really a habit. Do you know how when after reading a book, you get up to go to the restroom, and you are "still in the book?" It is like I am completely in a trance. I become competely unable to notice my surroundings and other people look at me strangely. When I am in this trace I am unknowingly doing things like walking in front of them or very close to them. It is an interesting sensation, but I am wondering if It isn't normal.

So um.. I wonder if anyone would be able to put these three pieces of the puzzle together and possibly steer me in the right direction.

The first steer in the right direction you've done already, by acknowledging the problem, and by trying to correct it. It's of paramount importance to firstly become aware that we even have a problem, before doing anything to resolve it. The fact that you recognize your problem and are willing and even actively working on solving it is already a huge step towards improvement.

A second, genuine steer in the right direction will be, above all, approaching a professional, if you haven't already. You don't have to be "mentally ill" in order to benefit from a psychotherapist's services. Some mild disorders, like the one you experience, or even mere psychological discomfort (like the one caused by divorce, changing jobs, etc.) can be successfully managed by a therapist and there shouldn't be really, really no shame or embarrassment in visiting a psychologist at one point or another in life.

You left out an important detail: when did all this start? Did it worsen or improve since you first became aware of it? Do you sometimes have the impression that, the more you fight it, the more persistent it gets?

You describe some sort of "trance" you experience. The trance theory (psychology current) states that the any individual is likely to enter a normal trance state - during ordinary concentration (when the mind is set on a specific problem or thought), intense pleasure, daydreaming (involuntary imaginative effort, usually pleasant), etc. What makes a trance normal is its ability to be easily interrupted. If an outer intervention or even yourself find it easy to break the trance state, then what you experience less likely to be pathological. If, on the contrary, attempting to break the trance fails or generates another trance state, or other type of effects (such as hallucinations), then we might be looking at some sort of disorder. From what you say, I'm not sure this is the case, though.

Still according to the trance theory, habits are usually a weak trance (we might complete some routines without even being aware when and how we do it - such as tying or shoelaces, brushing our teeth, changing gears, or locking the door. Sometimes we found that we completed a routine activity, such as putting things in their places unknowingly and we get surprised at the accuracy we do it with). When a habit becomes an addiction, the trance state gets more stable, therefore becoming pathological.

The compulsive-repetitive behavior, along with the trance-like state you describe, could be successfully addressed by psychotherapy.

What you wrote suggests a variety of definitions, but only a psychologist could assess your situation correctly, after talking to you and testing you accordingly. The obsessive-compulsive disorder is the first that comes to mind, although the repetitive behavior it describes is most often conscious, as opposed to what you depict. Dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking) and dermophagia (eating skin, skin flakes, mucus, or scabs), or even Tourette (chronic and transitory tics) are another few that your story points to, but I will stop here, since they are speculations until properly diagnosed.

I will repeat my questions, in case I lost you through the maze of psychotalk: did you see a psychologist? When did all this start? Has it worsened or improved since you first notice it? Do you sometimes feel that, the more you fight it, the stronger it gets? How old are you?

Best of luck, and keep us posted!

Is tourette syndrome one of the options? Really?

I thought it was more of uncontrollable behavior, and less unconscious behavior?

There are so many myths about tourette syndrome, enlighten us?

Tourette's syndrome developed so many myths and stories around it, as a spectacular disease, with people that do all kinds of weird and funny stuff... and unfortunately the reason for that is that most of it is real.

I will come back with more info on this… in the meantime, whoever wants to add or debate something, feel free, and always welcome.

I was told it started in my teenage years or childhood, and started getting worse until someone pointed it out to me. I am not sure if it has gotten better or worse the more I fight it, partly becasue I don't know I am doing it.

I am not really able to break the trance state once I get into it. It becomes hard to "unconcentrate" if that makes any sense.

how old are you?

I am 25 years old.

Thank you for all your help. I think I am going to schedule an appointment sometime soon.

Many people's notion of the Tourette's syndrome is limited to an oddity seen mostly in movies, with its assortment of embarrassing situations.

The truth is that it can have various degrees of expression, from a few, sometimes hardly noticeable tics to really dramatic manifestations, such as uncontrollable, spasmodic movements (in an Ally McBeal episode, a woman was acquitted for running her husband over with the car, having suffered from Tourette's and proving that her pressing the gas was an involuntary movement - that scenario is very plausible).

Tourette is characterized by displays of multiple motor tics and at least one (most often more) verbal tics. Their unconscious nature is debatable, since it's not the lack of awareness that allows them to perform, but more of an irresistible compulsion to carry them out (some patients describe an irrepressible urge to act upon their tics, much like an itch compels for scratching). It first manifests before the age of 18. It's believed to be due to an abnormal neurotransmitter metabolism and it's hereditary.

Although Pittsburgh_Person's description is not entirely consistent with the Tourette's picture, it does have some elements. As I said before, I can't claim that I give any kind of diagnosis, not even a sketch of a diagnosis, but Tourette's was one of the disorders that came to mind.

And as I was writing this, I saw that Pittsburgh_Person came back with a bit more info. Feeling harder to "unconcentrate" does make sense, and I perfectly understand what you mean. You seem like a highly intelligent person; your spelling, vocabulary and coherence recommend you as very educated, and 25 is a very young age - you have absolutely all the premises to overcome this. The fact that it's hard for you to get out of the "trance" state is sign alone that there is some kind of psychological disorder involved, and I'm pretty sure that you can't deal with this all by yourself. There is a whole theory - trance theory, I mentioned it before - that centers psychological pathology around trance – oversimplifying it, the inability to break the trance loop is one of the main symptoms of psychological illness.

From what you've said, I can't really understand how much this bothers you, if this is a constant concern, or if your concern just comes (sometimes intensely) and goes. But if it's a distress, and it affects somehow your social and personal life (although, apart from the embarrassing aspect, from what you describe, your symptoms are mostly harmless), my advice is to talk to a therapist as soon as you have the courage, time and mood and not wait for this to disappear by itself or to somehow conquer it alone. There's chance it would go away, and chance it wouldn't, and it would just aggravate with age. Most disorders of the sort do.

There are very specific tools available to the psychotherapist to help deal with this (behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, psychoanalysis, Exposure and Ritual Prevention, even pharmacological treatment, or a combination of them). Some people have the idea that the psychotherapist tries to cure you through mere talking, and, while this is true in some cases, in the vast majority of others, psychotherapy involves specific, precise, aimed techniques in managing disorders, and sometimes the results come amazingly fast.

I don't know how determined you are to get to the bottom of this by seeing a specialist, but I really, really hope you are.

Very good luck and please, keep us posted.