Biting Fingernails

-Ask the Expert-

Question:

I keep biting and eating my nails and the skin around my fingernails since about 20 years. What actually worries me is that I cannot seem to be able to quit this habit, and that sometimes it gets painful and slightly bloody.

I put my hands in the mouth or pull the skin around my fingernails without even noticing, and even when I notice it I keep doing it…

Do I need a psychotherapist?

Answer:

Rick, to eat the skin around your fingernails and to bite your nails indicates an uneasiness that you feel when dealing with certain situations. This uneasiness can be linked to general causes or to particular episodes, and comes from personal insecurities that the subject feels when dealing with relations, performances, or new and sudden events. In these cases the subject feels anxiety, and does compulsive and repetitive actions to control it.

In your case, the pain caused by the biting, and the fact that you notice what you are doing, are enough to lower and control the anxiety, but they do not solve the problem that generates the anxiety itself. So, to solve this problem I suggest you to find its origin; the root that creates the behavior that after 20 years is starting to be problematic, especially for the physical consequences. You could visit a psychotherapist to help you get to the origin. 

Also, I suggest you to check your general health status, because the need of eating the skin around the fingernails could be caused by a deficiency of micronutrients like mineral salts and/or vitamins.

Best wishes

Answer:

Maria Zampiron, Psychotherapist

Question:

Rick, 33 years old

Publication Date: 01/11/2007 

Check out the original article here