As an autistic person, this reads as "stimming". Sometimes your brain wants a little more sensory input, or a specific set of known and comforting inputs. There

As an autistic person, this reads as "stimming". Sometimes your brain wants a little more sensory input, or a specific set of known and comforting inputs. There's a lot of situations that trigger stimming behaviors, notably stress or intense focus. I like to think about it as having something to ignore. Sort of like having the right music when you're in the flow, it feeds the part of your brain that filters out unnecessary sensory information. Otherwise it gets bored and starts messing with what you're trying to actively do. Let me be clear: these behaviors are only bad insofar as they cause you distress. If you simply stop all of these behaviors, you'll probably not like the result. What you should focus on is replacing destructive behaviors with less destructive ones. It's not terribly difficult, just reshaping an old habit. First, find something that feels similar, maybe rubbing your knuckles down your arm, or pinching your leg. Doesn't really matter much what it is so long as you're comfortable with it. Every time you catch yourself pulling your hair, immediately move to the other stim. Don't stop to repremand yourself or think too hard about it, just build the link between behavior A and B. After a few weeks, focus on the feeling you get right before you pull your hair. Identify that, and try to link that to your second stim instead of pulling your hair. This will be difficult at first, but once you train yourself to associate the trigger with the new stim, it gets easy. After that, you just have to monitor yourself and keep reinforcing the new habit until it sticks. In the long term, I suggest you focus on the sensation you get right before you pull your hair or bite your lips. This psychological trigger is associated with some physical or emotional state. Identify the trigger, then you can start to figure out what state it's representing. From there you can explore what in your environment is causing this state, maybe it's an external stressor that you can manage. Maybe it's associated with boredom or internal stress. You might find interesting answers down that rabbit hole.