Is this an extreme case of nail biting or some form of self-cannibalism?
Yes, for sure this is an anxiety issue that intensifies when you are alone and not distracted by the things you are involved with when you are out. It is similar to nail biting and hair pulling and other compulsive behaviors that can be physically destructive and that are related to some underlying, usually painful issue that you mind is blocking out and replacing with biting. It would be very useful to address this in 2 ways. a. One is psychotherapy that will get to the underlying reasons for your anxiety and your need to defend (by biting) against thinking about those things and having to feel the feelings associated with them. This will be the most helpful in the long term but it takes longer to make the behavior stop. b. The other is cognitive-behavioral counseling that will address the biting right away but won’t give you much for the long run which means the behavior is very likely to return. c. Another choice is medication which will only provide immediate relief from the anxiet
