Suggested Treatment for Finger Nail Biting
Palm readers believe that the finger nail biting habit indicates much self-criticism. That is the palm reading theory, but of course each case is different. It appears daily stresses contribute to maintaining the habit daily.One of the first treatment steps is to look for the stresses occurring daily and to reduce or eliminate them. This is not easy to do in our world we live in today because many stresses are outside of our control. However, there are some stresses we impose on ourselves which we can control. One self-imposed stress is disappointment, which we create by having expectations of others and ourselves. This can create much self-criticism.
When we do something and create in our mind an expectation of how someone else will react to our actions, we are setting up the conditions for ourselves to be disappointed. Not having expectations of how others will hopefully react to our actions is an excellent first step to reducing not only stress but also disappointment -- and possibly the nail biting.
Physical Consequences of Finger Nail Biting
The nail biting habit is hard to stop because it provides satisfying relief somehow. That can be a good thing; however, there are side effects that are not good. Some nail biters overdo it and often bite their fingernails until they bleed. This may open the way for germs to go directly in to the blood stream causing infection. Also some bacteria may enter the biter's mouth. These disadvantages may well be motivation enough to take drastic actions and stop the nail biting habit.There are several ways suggested on the Internet for breaking the habit of nail biting, as well as many other habits! One of the common ways is to put something on the nails that tastes terrible to discourage putting them in the mouth. A clear, bitter-tasting nail polish with denatonium benzoate is often used. That is the most bitter chemical compound known! That will surely discourage the practice in a hurry but will do little to fix the real underlying causes, which are likely psychological.
