You've described, almost word-for-word, the symptoms of a classic sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder. You are probably under a great load of stress, and your recent pain and depression has not helped matters any. Picking at your skin is a manifestation of your very shattered emotions. Animals, too, are known to pick or bite at their skin (some parrots will pluck themselves bare and die) in an obsessive way.
OCD is simply a cycle: you are obsessed with something (perhaps something stressful in your life, or just a general anxiety), and when you do a certain thing, you stop thinking about it. Therefore you're compelled to do that thing over and over to stop the obsession, or fear, from returning.

This sort of problem, exactly because you can't stop, and because you feel the need to do it, should be reported to a professional. There are therapies to help you discover and get rid of the stress and pain in your life, and techniques to help you get things back in order so you feel you have an amount of control. If all else fails, there is drug therapy, which I don't necessarily love. But it does work for some people.

This is not "in your head" nor do I think it's some juvenile attention-getting scam. If what you've told me is for real, you need to make some serious changes in your life to stop the compulsion to tear at your own body. Professional assistance is your best bet.

thanks so much

People have been coming to me for advice so long, I might as well do this all in one spot. I watch a lot of unfathomable Japanese TV and drink a lot of coffee. I'm a freshly-hatched Illustration major, formerly trapped & dying in the American South, now busily teaching phrases to all of Nagoya Japan. I'm always on the lookout for more video games and sushi.
I have lots of interesting pets. Wanna see my beetle?

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