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Nail biting?

GoldenRatio

GoldenRatio

Officially diagnosed with AS, ADHD, and anxiety.
V.I.P Member
I have always done this, I incessantly attack my nails all the time, along with the skin around them. Has anyone had any success with stopping this? I just chalked it up to "it is what it is" and stopped trying. It probably bothers people more who are around me than it actually bothers me lol. If I try to ignore it, especially if I see something that I don't like, it will drive me crazy to the point I cannot focus on anything else.
 
I used to be very bad for chewing my nails especially when I went to high school which was a very stressful time. After I left school at the age of 18 I started to smoke which at that time was a major stress reliever. I stopped smoking just after my 38th birthday and even to this day (nearly 6yrs later) it would be so easy to start again, just like going back to an old friend. But I at least nail biting wouldn't make me ill unlike smoking.
 
You know, I can't remember how I stopped, but usually I start up again if I don't keep them clipped short. I still attack the skin around my nails, though.

My sister quit by choosing one nail not to bite, and let it grow out. Once she got used to leaving that alone, she would add another, and another, until she quit. I don't know how well it works, I haven't tried it myself.
 
I never got into nail biting, unlike most people. But I do have a bad habit of picking at my lip until it bleeds... ugh I wish I could stop.
 
I have always completely gone to town on my fingernails. It's never bothered me, but often seems to really bother others, as I think someone else expressed here.
 
I bite my nails, but not in front of other people. I'm not sure why not, since it's something that I do without thinking, even though I don't want to do it.
 
I didn't bite my nails but I used to pick at them and I never had any nails because they were all torn apart. Somehow though I was able to break the habit and haven't done that in many years.
 
I used to chew my nails all the time. Now I can grow them but as soon as they get too long or rough I can't stop myself from biting them all the way off. I used to be really bad and make myself bleed.
 
Funny thing is I practically stopped as soon as I found out I was aspie. Maybe released some stress? But I still find I end up picking at them if there is any roughness on them. Regular filings help keep the picking at bay.
 
I occasionally bite my nails but I've deformed the skin of my right hand's middle knuckles(?) by biting the skin off of them. Funny thing was I never really bit them again after I permanently deformed them and never had the desire to bite my left hand
 
I have never bitten my nails that much unless I was very stressed or they were too long then I would just bite (cut) them off, now I keep a nail clipper around so that I do not bite them off. It can also be related to stress, I tend to pick at scabs and dead skin when stressed, which is not really good. My son has been bitting his nails raw lately. An acquaintance of mine (a while ago) suggested covering your nails with something that is harmless but tastes awful, as a deterrent. You go to bite but as soon as you taste it you want to get it out of your mouth. However, you might eventually get used to the substance. Another more obsessive colleague of mine cut his nails every day with a nail clipper so that there was little to nothing to bite off. That eventually got him to stop, but took a few months.
 
No never.
If i did i certainly wouldn't in public.
I concentrate all the time on presenting myself "properly".
It does amuse me to see a macho bloke driving aggressively in his car with one clenched fist holding the wheel at 12 o'clock.
Furiously chewing the finger nails of his other hand.
Does he not understand that his chewing betrays the image he is trying so hard to portray?
But i do have a chip on my shoulder about macho blokes lol.
 
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