Nail Biting

There are a many different reasons for nail biting, depending on the person who is doing it. It can simply be a habit, or it can be caused by an underlying disorder like anxiety. One theory is that Nail biting is caused by an obsessive-compulsive personality. Other theories say that nail biting is a form of self-soothing related to increased anxiety. On the flip side, some nail biters sufferers may bite because they're bored and are looking for some kind of stimulation. In many cases, nail biting continues into adulthood as a remnant from the younger years as it has then become an unconscious habit.

Although about 30 percent of children 7 to 10 years of age bite their nails, 44 percent of adolescents do so, about 20 percent of young adults bite and 5 percent of older adults continue the habit. It is also thought that more males suffer from nail biting than women.

The main risks of nail biting are those related to infection. When a person bites their nails down to the nail bed, bleeding can occur, a signal of an open wound. The potential for infection arises because the hands are always touching things, but also because you keep biting it can cause germs from the mouth into the wound. Other risks are not physical, but rather social. People who bite their nails may be embarrassed by their hands or feel ashamed of themselves, which leads to a low self-esteem.

Although medications like antidepressants may help in treating people who wish to stop biting their nails, behavior modification is the more effective way of getting the habit under control. These treatments focus on becoming aware of it and figuring out what may be triggering the response, thought patterns that lead to the behavior and changing the behavior itself. Any type of habit reversal therapy may be effective in treating nail biting if the person really desires to stop and has the motivation to stick with a program that can be quite long.