What Are the Causes of Nail Biting?
When Princess Diana first came on the scene in the early 1980s and was under intense scrutiny there was a bit of an uproar because ... she bit her fingernails. The princess finally got over her nail-biting habit (although specifics about her "recovery" from this habit were never revealed); however, some adults bite their nails until the day they die.
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Identification
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According to Selfgrowth.com (See References 1), nail biting, or chronic onchophagia, is the act of biting the nail, the soft tissue around the nail or the cuticle. According to the study "Operant Learning Principles," conducted by Terry M. McClanahan, nail-biting is present in 28 to 33 percent of children between the ages of 7 and 10; 44 percent of adolescents; 19 to 29 percent of adults and 5 percent of older adults. Nail-biting usually reaches its peak between the ages of 10 and 18.
Unconscious Act
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Nail-biting is often an unconscious act in both children and adults. They may do it while reading a book or watching a movie and not be aware that they're biting their nails. Reportedly, some people even bite their nails in their sleep! The best explanation that the medical and psychoanalytical community have come up for why people bite their nails is that there is some deep-seated anxiety present or that there is an oral fixation and, because of this, nail biters require something in their mouths. Oral fixation would extend to smokers as well.
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Coping Mechanism
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Dr. Ronald Bronow, dermatologist and assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UCLA, explains that nail-biting is a typical reaction to boredom and stress. He also notes that nail-biting is often a coping mechanism to relieve stress and other emotions. He maintains that nail biters may have a poor self-image or could be punishing themselves for some deep-seated guilt or unresolved problems. Nail-biting seems to relieve tension for some people.
Body-Focused-Repetitive-Disorder
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By Fred Penzel, Ph.D. of Westsuffolkpsyche.com explains that some individuals bite their nails or pull their hair or pick their skin when they are either bored and understimulated or when they are overstimulated (stressed out, excited, nervous). Penzel further notes that there is a subgroup of behaviors that has been dubbed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Spectrum, which encompasses nail biting, hair pulling and skin picking. This disorder, which has recently been renamed Body-Focused Repetitive Disorders, can include, in addition to OCD, trichotillomania (hair pulling); body dysmorphic disorder (seeing yourself as fat when you're not); bulimia, anorexia nervosa; compulsive nail-biting and skin picking and Tourette's Syndrome. Nail-biting and skin-picking, in addition to trichotillomania, are believed to originate in the chemistry of the brain and be the result of genetics.
Oral Fixation
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Sigmund Freud believed that behaviors such as nail-biting are symptoms of an oral fixation and that this behavior is set in the subconscious. Some people believe that hypnosis works in ridding an individual of these behaviors because hypnosis works on the subconscious levels of the mind, according to Stopnailbiting.net.
Sanitary Issues
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Dr. Lawrence Gibson of the Mayo Clinic states that extreme biting of the nails can be a sign of anxiety or compulsive behavior. He also notes that biting the nail all the way down to the U-shaped cuticles can affect the future growth of your nails. Infections of the skin around the paronychia, nail bed, or warts around the nail bed can be worsened by nail-biting. Furthermore, it's an unsanitary practice. Nail biters can pass viruses and bacteria from their nails into their mouths.
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