Have you ever heard of a movie being described as “nail-biting”? It’s a description that is usually applied to thrillers, but the actual behavior of nail-biting could better be described as a tragedy to the person suffering from it. Nail-biting or to use its proper name, Onychophagia, is thought to afflict up to 50% of all children and teens and quite a few continue the behavior into adulthood.
You can find practical tips on how to stop biting your nails in a wide variety of books and articles mostly dedicated to putting a physical impediment between your hand and your mouth. Such ideas to help you stop nail biting are offered by Web MD dot com. Their typical suggestions include cutting your nails short, using bad tasting nail polishes to coat your fingernails and perhaps most impractical of all, wearing gloves all the time (https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/stop-nail-biting-tips#1). All of these tips (and more) might work temporarily, but won’t address the underlying cause of the behavior that compels you to bite your nails.
According to Psychology Today, nail-biting can range from a benign temporary habit to a full-blown obsessive-compulsive disorder. They go on to say “Symptoms are both psychological and physical. People who chronically bite their nails may experience distressful feelings of unease or tension prior to biting. Feelings of relief or even pleasure after biting, feelings of shame, embarrassment, and guilt, are also often related to the appearance of physical damage to skin and nails caused by biting” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/onychophagia-nail-biting
There are a lot of things that drive the behavior such as, automatic thinking patterns, and feelings buried deep in the subconscious. Getting into the subconscious, accessing the information there and getting the necessary insight (that the nail biter needs to be able to shift their perception and to interrupt and stop the behavior) is something that only a very good Hypnotist is trained to do.
So, keep in mind that if you want permanent change you need to get to the root cause. That root cause is what nail biters are holding onto and which causes them to put their fingernails into their mouth. All the gloves and nasty tastes in the world won’t fix that, but will just prolong the misery because the behavior will be back as soon as the physical barrier is removed.
I have helped many nail biters end this unwanted habit, and turn their nail-biting from a tragedy to a story that ends with a “happily ever after”. If you’d like to know more about how I can help you, just book your free telephone consultation here on www.familyfirsthypnosis.com and I’ll be happy to answer all of your questions.
