Nail Bitting and Skin Picking

Hiddenuser

Ive gone unreg for this. Im male aged 23. Ive always bitten my nails from a young age and have never done anything about it. Recently I am unhappy with the habit and feel I need to stop it. I know it is socially unappealing and having your finger in your mouth aint nice.

A linking habit I have on a lesser degree is skin picking. I suffer from acne and whatever it is I cant stop picking at my spots. This obviously causes redness. For some reason I think by picking the spot it will make it go away quicker. Ive always done it I suppose I never let them go away themselves because i think they wont. I did try briefly some tablets for my acne but didnt help. Never followed up on it as I find that the doctors i have asked considered it quiet trivial and said it would stop when i got older.

Ive only recently came to the conclusion I have some disorder and it is simple not just a habit. It really isnt a medical disorder as the health risks are minimal more of a social disorder I suspose. I know there is loads of nail bitters out there not sure about the skin picking though.

Any suggestions on how to kick these habits. Im looking for some nail vanish for my fingers and dont know where to get it? Also anyone seek professional help and found it useful?

Any help would be welcomed.

Red Hand

It's a habit like anything else. I had the unfortunate habit of picking out stubble, and picking at the calluses on my hands. And yes, picking at spots whenever I used to get them.

It's often a habit you get where you don't know what to do wih your hands at times? Maybe substitute that habit with something else...each time you find yourself doing it, take out your mobile phone and play with it?

Insect Overlord

I'd agree with what Jeremiah said. My parents used to give me a hard time for biting my nails when I was a child but I've always done it anyway. I hardly ever do it with other people around though. Same thing with spot-picking. It's usually at its worst when I'm nervous/excited about something, I just need to be doind it to keep myself calm. It's not a disorder imo, just an unfortunate habit. You might cause some scarring by picking spots but it's unlikely to have a drastic effect on your life Just try to find something else to do until the desire to do it passes.

Hiddenuser

I used to think it was just a habit but its called Dermatillomania and is known as a Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Have a read of this http://westsuffolkpsych.homestead.com/skinpicking.html

challengemaster

Nail biting is hardly OCD. Unless you have to bite each nail 6 times before washing your hands 10 times, using 5 different bars of soap...so on, so forth.. :pac:

Seriously, as I do it myself and am also trying to quit it.. it's not OCD, it's just a habit. If anything the reason it's so 'natural' is because of muscle memory. Your muscles just remember how to do things after doing them so many times, same with walking.. as a baby or small child, you had to really try to walk, and think about it. Same when you're learning anything now. After the action being repeated for so long, it just becomes engrained into your muscle memory, which is how (i've noticed that) you can end up biting your nails without even realising you're doing it. You don't think about walking, or how you have to walk, what you have to do..all the motions, etc.. you just do it. Same thing applies imo. That's why its a tough one to kick.

You just really have to focus on not doing it. After you don't do it for so long, then NOT doing it will become normal to your body, and you're free!

Overheal

Popping spots and nail biting - guilty me. But I also used to do other things, like suck on the collar of my shirt. But you grow out of that when you realise how badly it screws up the shirt

Anyway Im convinced a lot of that is just instinct - look at monkeys, picking eachothers fleas. And they don't have nail clippers. I never have a nail clipper around and dammit thats how I got into this mess But as for most all but the more painful of acne spots its really less face-time to leave them alone and wash your face once in a while then blast each and every one out of the park, which can lead to minor scarring in some cases, and at best makes your face look clownish for a few hours.

littlefriend

Try hypnosis. I have done that a couple of times for nail biting and it definitely works. It only last about 18 months with me though [hence having it done more than once]. Takes about an hour and costs around 100 eu.
Can't recommend it enough to be honest.

LegacyUser

OCD Action, Aberdeen Centre, 22-24 Highbury Grove, London N5 2EA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7226 4000. Fax: +44 (0)20 7288 0828. Email: info@ocdaction.org.uk Website: www.ocdaction.org.uk Charity providing information, advice and support for people experiencing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related disorders such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Compulsive Skin Picking (CSP) and Trichotillomania.

from ocdireland.org

Agent Smith

i used to always bite my nails. I got a special nailvarnish-like substance in the chemist, and it makes the nails the most foul tasting thing in the world. Every time i go to bite my nails now my mind flashes back to that taste.

JuliusCaesar

Only you know whether it's just a habit or a habit disorder. The nasty tasting stuff on nails is available in any chemist and usually works - provided you do put it on! Skin-picking - do you know you're doing it? If you can make yourself aware of when you're doing it (bored? stressed?), then you can actually stop.

von Neumann

I bought a keyring nail clippers so now if I get the urge or there annoying me I just clip them off in the bathroom.
This is going to sound a bit nuts but try writting 10 times every day "I would like to stop eating X" It seem to sink in more this way, like a kind of brainwashing .