Nail biting is as common a problem as hair fall! This is also known as onychophagia which is a common oral compulsive habit from which many children and adults suffer. We generally adapt this habit because we feel stressed and anxious! Many of you have probably seen a guy or a girl chewing nails at a bus stop, sign of being nervous about the upcoming interview! But this habit can prove harmful to us! So watch out!
What we do when Nervous!!
Check out the other typical nervousness habits that we follow apart from nail biting:
- Sucking of thumb
- Hair Pulling
- Nose-picking
- Hair twisting
- Tooth grinding
- Picking at skin
This is an uncontrollable behavior that is repetitive in nature which results in damaging your own finger nails, skin around the nails, or cuticles. It is a part of unconscious behavior and those who have this tendency could experience bleeding, bruises, infections, pus formation, or even complete damage to the fingers. Scary! Isn’t it!
Who Suffer!
People from any age group can suffer from this bad habit!
- Children from the age of 10-18 suffer more from this behavior. And most parents think this to be normal. Mostly, children who have reached their puberty age suffer from this problem.
- Adults from the age of 18-22 years have follows the habit when they become stresses and over conscious over something.
- On the other hand it has been found that adults who are above the age of 30 stop this practice on their own.
Reasons behind Nail-biting!
There could be several reasons behind Nail-biting that are enlisted below:
- Self Soothing: People suffering from stress feel relaxed when they bite their nails as it calms their nervous system.
- Stimulation: When bored this habit keeps you alert and awake by providing the required level of stimulation.
- Perfectionism: Nail biters try to mend tiniest of irregularities in their nails but end up making them worse.
Prevent Nail-biting!
You can certainly prevent this habit and for this you have to follow certain instructions:
- Relief through Relaxation: To relieve stress you should start practicing mediation or yoga, so that you could avoid this habit.
- Distract: It is important to distract yourself when you start biting your nails. Start exercising, calling your friends, swimming, or playing football or any productive thing that can captivate your mind.
- Find Cause: It is important to note that when do you follow a particular behavior and then assess that situation. Try to avoid that situation or keep yourself busy while confronting the same situation.
- Seek Treatment: If still after following all the above mentioned techniques you are not able to get rid of this habit, then it is the time to see a psychiatrist, who would help you in overcoming this problem.
These are some of the important ways that could help you to dump this unhealthy and bad habit.
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