excessive grooming
Too much self-care
Excessive grooming refers to repetitive self-care behaviors carried beyond normal hygiene—compulsive hair-pulling, skin-picking, or nail-biting in humans, or overlicking and fur-chewing in animals.
The term appears in psychology and veterinary contexts, often indicating anxiety, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, or underlying medical conditions: The cat's bald patches suggested excessive grooming.
In animal behavior, it can also describe dominant individuals repeatedly grooming subordinates as a form of social control.
- preeningGrooming with vanity
- overgroomingExcessive self-directed cleaning behavior
- lickingTongue contact repeatedly
- pluckingRemoving by tugging
- barberingCutting and styling hair
hair pulling · compulsive · obsessive · hairless · bald patches · bald spot · anxiety · stress · stress response · fur · feathers · skin · raw · irritated · hot spot · self-soothing · repetitive · nervous
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