Bad Habits - Nail Biting
Yesterday’s entry on habits, namely what they are, was the launch of a new series on bad and good habits that we have and how we can get rid of them, or encourage them to stick around (depending on the habit we’re faced with).
Nail biting is an expression of anxiety for some, and a temporary cure for worry or similar emotions. By engaging in this activity, your mind is comforted by the repetitive action and focused, albeit temporarily, on something else. Eventually it becomes an unconscious activity that you do even when you’re not particularly on edge about something: it has become a habit. Of all the bad habits we’ll discuss, nail biting is probably the most benign: raggedy nails are unattractive and one nail biter that I knew had a tendency to smell like saliva, but other than that, I don’t believe ingesting your fingernails (as some nail biters do) will cause you any serious health concerns. The habit could have some unpleasant social consequences, however:
- people aware of your habit may not want to shake hands with you because of the germs associated with it
- you may accidentally give business opponents an indication of your emotions, allowing them to press their
advantage. - you may not feel comfortable extending your hands for a handshake or hug because of the state of your nails
Even if you don’t care how you are perceived socially, an important reason to rid yourself of this habit is it is not leading to you solving your problem. Sure, biting your nails may give you temporary relief, but the fact that you return to it the next time you’re faced with a worrisome situation shows that you haven’t learned how to effectively cope with situations of that nature.
I’m no nail biter (we’ll get into my own bad habits soon) so let me know what you think. Should nail biting be taken off the bad habits list? Do you bite your nails for reasons that have nothing to do with anxiety or worry? Are there more positives than negatives associated with nail biting? Let me know!
October 17th, 2007 at 7:35 am
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