I hate bathing (ASD) but I do it every day because it is Required and Expected. Most of the time I get in and do what I need to and get out, but occasionally I get this urge to be really thorough and scrub really hard with the rough sponge. Does anyone else get these random urges? I don’t have OCD as far as I know and it doesn’t happen often.
Do you notice any stimulus or frustration that happens around the desire? Like a patch of skin that won’t stop itching, or an emotional trigger - maybe something agitating you at the time that seems unrelated?
I was feeling very anxious about a couple of things. Maybe it’s related to my anxiety?
That’s a distinct possibility! I know you said you don’t have OCD but you don’t really have to have that specifically; overgrooming is a feature of anxiety-related disorders like OCD because it’s related to anxiety, so it can show up in less-severe forms as a disordered behaviour even without you suffering the full pathology. Worth keeping an eye out next time you feel it coming on, see if you notice anything else about it.