How to Stop Biting Nails

Biting nails is nasty habit; I was told this once and again so that I would not ruin my nails but as fate would have it and my lack of will power to actually put a period to this awful tendency of chewing up the nails, it continued for at least 10 more years. However, I did manage to get rid of it completely once I saw myself biting nails on a home video, which was enough to dampen my overenthusiastic spirits for biting nails. The demerits of biting nails are many, and I am sure, everybody knows almost every one of them. Not only is it embarrassing, it is also seen as a sign of weakness as biting nails often stems during situations of stress and strain, and of course, you wouldn't want the whole world to know what causes you to sweat blood. Getting rid of your nail-biting problem for good, is something that you have to figure out on your own, as each individual responds to different stimuli and reasons. Moreover, motivation for quitting this habit differs from person to person.

Putting an End to Nail Biting Problem

Nail biting is a psychological problem; one is generally driven into it due to stressful situations, nervousness or merely out of boredom. As with any other addiction, a persistent behavior of biting off nails relieves and stimulates a person too; as a result, this behavior is reinforced. Over time, it turns into an unconscious habit and as an adult, it becomes more difficult to do away with as compared to stopping children from biting nails. Chronic onychophagia, is the clinical name for nail-biting habit. Many researches have been done in this regard to figure out the psychology behind biting nails. Behaviorists blame it on obsessive compulsive personality disorder whereas the Freudians believe this habit to be an oral fixation. Whatever may be the psychological mumbo jumbo, here are some tricks that might help you in getting rid of this pesky problem once and for all.

• A foolproof remedy for biting nails is to apply a bitter, foul-tasting solution on your nails. That way, every time you have a craving to put your fingers in your mouth or if unconsciously your finger ends up in the mouth, the bitter-tasting nails would act as a reminder for you to stop chipping off your nails. Choose a solution which is as bitter as it can get. It should act as aversion therapy, and prevent you from getting stimulated by it. Do not forget to reapply it after every few hours and every time, you wash your hands.
• If you are someone who gives into the temptation of biting nails in moments of stress and tension, then some stress management might do the trick for you. Try to reason out what situations make you into persistent nail nibbler and then set up a goal to quit this habit. Distract yourself whenever you get the urge to bite nails.
• For women, it might be comparatively easy to break off this addiction as they are more inclined to have perfectly polished nails. This very fact motivates them to put an end to their nail-biting habit. Even men can opt for manicure and nail filing in order to stop biting nails.
• Wearing gloves or covering up the hands is a good idea if you have a tendency to inadvertently nibble at your nails. Putting on stickers or bandages is another tried and tested remedy for this problem.
• Children are described as clay because of their moldable nature. As toddlers, all of us have an affinity towards trying to understand an object especially by putting it in our mouth, but one grows into adolescence and then, adulthood; and the hair twirling, thumbing sucking and other such habits are left behind. It becomes exasperatingly difficult, if one is stuck with the remnants of childhood habits even in adult life. Therefore, it is extremely important to put a stop to the habit in childhood itself. If your child bites nails, then giving him a positive reinforcement (for example, promise of buying a bicycle or a new video game) in exchange of quitting this habit won't hurt.

Getting rid of nail-biting problem is easy if you remain determined towards your goal. Even if you relapse once that does not mean that you should give up. It only shows that your will power has to be a little firmer and unbending. I guess by now, you must have worked out ways to stop biting your finger nails and I wish you all the best for breaking off this habit.