Contents
Nail biting: your head knows why you do it
Psychology
Onychophagia is more common in the fingernails but, as unpleasant as it may seem, it can also affect the toenails
What a mania for many people to put their fingers in their mouths and bite their nails, the skin around … Although apparently it is done to de-stress, the consequences can be dire. Why? Because both the mouth and the fingers can become infected, bleed …
To begin with, nail biting is a compulsive habit, more common in children than in adults. Apparently, it affects 20-45% of the population, with a slight predominance in women over men, and there are those who consider that it is a sign that accompanies a psychological problem or psychiatric, which is part of obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD). This type of behavior is related to high anxiety, which the person finds
difficult to manage, so it is this anxiety that leads the person to engage in compulsive behaviors to counteract said anxiety.
La onychophagy, as the act of nibbling is known, is more common on the fingernails but, as unpleasant as it may seem, it can also affect the Toenails. Lourdes Navarro, a dermatologist member of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, comments that when the latter occurs, one must be on alert to “rule out that the patient has a associated psychiatric problem».
Lidia Asensi, a psychologist at the Cepsim Psychological Center, indicates that there are several causes that can generate the appearance of this compulsive behavior:
– Finding ourselves in a situation that can generate stress and / or anxiety.
– Emotions such as fear, are also generators of the implementation of this behavior.
– This behavior is also related to people such as low tolerance for frustration and a high level of demand and perfectionism.
“Faced with these emotions, nail biting has a calming effect on people who use this behavior. At some point before, they learned that biting their nails helped them ‘manage’ the stressful situation they were in, obtaining a feeling of calm later, ”says Lidia Asensi, adding that there is also a stimulatory effect: “In bored situations, this stimulation distracts them.”
What you should know
It is estimated that around 30% of children between the ages of 4 and 10 tend to bite their nails. This percentage increases when we move to the adolescent population, reaching an estimated figure of around 50%. Although from the age of 18, this figure is decreasing. In adulthood, around 15% maintain this behavior, being in some cases specific and related to complicated life events.
In relation to gender, in childhood a similar percentage is found in boys and girls, but as we we approach adulthood, the scale leans towards the masculine side.
Learn what is onychophagy, the psychological causes and treatments to solve this disorder can help in many areas of life, not only aesthetically, but also emotionally, how learn to identify psychological problems and how these are reflected on the outside.
Moderate nails has negative consequences at different levels, as indicated by Lidia Asensi: A physical level, the appearance of infections, wounds, bleeding and deconfiguration of the fingers and / or teeth. TO emotional level It can generate some frustration, because it is a difficult behavior to control, in which the person feels unable to contain the urge to bite their nails, despite the pain they may be feeling. On a social level, it can be unattractive to present the hands with bitten nails, thus affecting the image of the person.
Why is it addictive? Because when we bite our nails our brain releases certain hormones related to well-being. It affects the reward circuit. So our brain learns that by biting our nails we will feel calmer.
Stop this behavior
To address this issue there are different methods, but in the most recurrent cases, psychological therapy is recommended. “The most important thing about psychological intervention is to know the causes that lead to the behavior, since the fact of biting the nails can be a gesture that hides the existence of other important psychological problems”, says the expert in psychology Leticia Doñagueda.
The American Psychiatric Association classified onychophagia as a Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but in therapy it is necessary to delve into the life history of the person who suffers it and thus find the causes that lead him to carry out the behavior and that is maintaining it, in order to carry out a treatment focused on the case and obtain efficient results .
“Treatment to stop nail biting varies depending on the severity of the case. Replacing this practice with a positive habit can make a big difference, but just as important is discovering the comorbidity of the behavior, working on a possible state of anxiety, stress, fear or compulsion, or even delve into emotion management and the patient’s attachment style ”, comments the dermatologist Doñagueda.
The dermatologist Lourdes Navarro, for her part, states that the best way to address this behavior is to “modify the habits that trigger the compulsive attitude». This could be considered the first line of action with cognitive behavior therapy, habit reversal therapy, distraction techniques, etc. «Other measures would be the use of a finger bandage, it would act as a barrier and hinder access to nail biting. Treatment with psychoactive drugs and high-dose oral N-acetyl cysteine has occasionally been proposed. Scientific publications regarding the efficacy of N-acetyl cysteine are not very conclusive, “he explains.
For the psychologist Lidia Asensi, it is essential to reduce emotional activation through relaxation techniques, create healthier habits for the person, that is, gradually eliminate the automatic behavior of biting nails and learn to understand and manage emotions.