2023 Author: Gabrielle Mercer | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 12:25
No sooner are you nervous than you bite your nails. But why? Research has now been carried out into what nail biting reveals about you and what are the causes of the tic.
Yes. I am a nail biter. Since I was around 13 years old. No traumatic trigger, I just started at some point and could never turn it off completely. Doesn't mean that my fingers are in my mouth all the time and my nails are in ruins. Not at all.
But there are always phases where I suddenly and completely unconsciously bite through a nail. I even have two favorite nibbling nails. The ring finder and the thumb of the right hand.
Of course it looks stupid when a grown woman nibbles on her nails. And it annoys me too. But, as I said: it happens completely unconsciously and only now and then.
But now I finally know why I bite my nails. And to be completely honest: I can even come to terms with this answer quite well;-)
A research team from the University of Montreal was able to find out that only very specific people tend to have nervous tics such as nail biting. Namely PERFECTIONISTS.
Professor Kieron O'Connor at Huffington Post: "Nail-biteers are people who want to get their day-to-day tasks done above average and quickly. They are extremely efficient. But when they fail to achieve their personal goals, they are frustrated, impatient and dissatisfied." What they then compensate for with skipping acts such as biting their nails or twisting their hair.
Hell yeah! Nail biters are perfectionists
The research team observed 48 test subjects - one half from the nail biting group, the other half from the hair vertebrae fraction - in four different situations. Each of them should trigger a specific state of mind: boredom, relaxation, stress, and frustration. It clearly showed that those affected were particularly prone to their unloved habits when they were a) stressed or b) frustrated.
O'Connor: "Biting your nails and twisting your hair are clearly signals of acute under-stress that can be compensated for by constructive activities."
OK. The next time I nibble on my nails, I should probably make a chair. Knit a scarf. Write a book. Pottery a jug. Or just try these 7 tips against nail biting.