When I was between the ages of 10 and 13 I had to walk to school about the back road of gravel across the paved road and down to the schoolhouse; along the way, at the corner of the paved road there was a house with a man who I later learned was about 25 years old and mentally deficient, but all I knew of him at the time was that he always had a band-aid across his nose as it was always rubbed raw from his constant scratching at the scab.
I often think about that poor, young man at times like this.
You mean people who pick at scabs incessantly? Scabs are a sign of healing and when you pick them, it takes longer and longer to heal. Or am I reading too much into your post?