Nail Biting

One of the things I did when successfully stopping biting my fingernails and cuticles for the first time was attempting to make a mental note of every time I attempted to bite my nails/cuticles. I'd ask myself why was I doing it at that moment? What situation am I in that has led me to feel I need to bite? When I could consciously recognize and acknowledge what I was doing, I'd be more inclined to tell myself to stop what I was doing at that moment because I knew it would prevent me from achieving my long term goal of breaking this habit.

For me, what's also really helped me breaking my addiction and preventing biting my fingernails and cuticles throughout the day is to set aside five minutes first thing in the morning to file my nails, and then cut them if necessary. I then rub a small amount of moisturizer on and around each of my fingernails. I think that spending some time to take care of your nails helps you to consciously think about NOT biting your nails, reinforcing the idea that you are also striving towards a longer-term goal of being free from biting.

I have also used techniques like wrapping tape around each of their fingernails or putting an invisible nail varnish that tastes disgusting when you put it near your mouth. These haven't worked for me, although I do know they work for some.

Hope this helps! Best of luck in stopping biting your nails too!

 

Weirdly or not, nail biting is considered self harm in some circles. Rubbing jalapeno juice may help you identify when and why (the thought behind) you bite your nails.

I used to be a compulsive nail biter until 2 weeks ago; I'm 37 years old, so the habit is actually super embarrassing. My habit went partially away after I did some emotional introspection and more or less processed some past emotions of anger, frustration, fear and shame. Fear is the worst one... But now I have another problem: whenever I touch something, the nails are in the way! Sounds silly, but it does create problems and makes me want to bite them again, but definitely the impulse is lower.

Jokes aside, with most addictions and compulsions, the solution is in the brain: emotion (fear) + trigger (sounds, thoughts) association, and not in the habit itself.