Each person’s reaction when faced with an unusual situation is different. People who are nervous, stressed or nervous sometimes shake their legs, sometimes bang something on the table, and sometimes have the habit of biting their nails. This condition, which we can define as a kind of nail-biting disease, generally starts in childhood and turns into an impulse control disorder that is maintained even if the person is an adult.
Although it is referred to as nail-biting disease, it is actually a kind of manifestation of psychological disorders. It can occur in many different ways and is generally harmless, but it is still not very healthy to maintain as it affects one’s quality of life. Let’s examine in all details what nail biting disease, one of the most common impulse control disorders, causes and most importantly, how it passes.
Let’s understand what it is; What is nail biting disease?
Nail biting disease, which is seen in the form of gnawing the fingernails and tearing the skin around the nail, when the person feels nervous, stressed or tense, can be defined as a kind of impulse control disorder or a kind of behavior disorder. Nail biting disease, also known as onychophagia in medical terms, is one of the most common impulse control disorders.
One in three people have nail biting:
Nail biting disease generally begins at the age of 3 to 4 years, and sometimes even after 5 months of age. Traumatic situations, such as leaving the breast or leaving home and starting daycare, reveal this habit. If the person was socially accepted during adolescence, the nail biting disease would disappear, but if he didn’t, things would get bigger.
40 percent of adolescents and 33 percent of children have nail biting disease. In some people, this disorder can turn into different impulse control disorders such as pen biting, hair playing, lip biting, nose picking. What’s even more interesting is that if these people often say ‘Don’t do it!’ If you say or try to discourage him from this habit without his will, they will be more stressed and a complete addiction will occur.
Good, but what causes nail biting disease?
- Infancy traumas
- environmental factors
- genetic factors
- psychological reasons
Infancy traumas:
Nail biting disease, which occurs between the ages of 3 and 4, is a result of the stress and anxiety caused by the child’s entry into a new environment such as a nursery. The reason for the habit that starts in babies after 5 months is considered as a continuation of thumb sucking. It is possible that breast, bottle, pacifier habits later evolve into nail biting.
Environmental factors:
Some children may acquire the habit of thumb sucking and nail biting with a basic instinct, but most of the children who have this habit actually see and learn this from their environment. If the child’s mother, father, relatives, elder siblings, etc., have this type of nail-biting disease, the child may see and apply it from here.
Genetic factors:
Of course, nail biting is not a genetically transmitted condition, but psychological disorders can be genetically transmitted. In other words, emotional disorders, anxiety, anxiety disorders and similar psychological disorders that are passed on in the family can manifest themselves as nail biting disease.
Psychological reasons:
Here is a cause of nail eating disease that we can write three volumes of if we want. The root cause of nail biting and similar impulse control disorders is psychological. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a diagnosed condition. Chronically felt tension, distress, anxiety, anger, sadness, fear and similar situations cause nail biting disease.
In addition to factors such as changes in the social environment, changes in the physical environment, feelings of insecurity, oppressive family, and lack of love, disorders such as mental retardation, developmental disorders, tics, depression, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, attention deficit, bedwetting, and hyperactivity are the causes of nail biting disease. it could be.
Let’s eat, don’t say what will happen, learn the harms:
Of course, a person with nail-biting disease does not have life-threatening risks, but the damage is quite high. Needless to say, it looks awful as the nails and the structure around them will be distorted. Due to this bad appearance, the person feels bad in social life and loss of self-confidence occurs.
Stomach infections are inevitable if you eat the nails or the skin around them and swallow them. The most interesting damage is to your jaw. Especially if you have nail-biting disease since childhood, you may be faced with a condition called malocclusion, where the jaw is not fully closed.
Is it possible to treat nail biting disease?
Of course its possible. Of course, since this is not an infection-induced disease that occurs in one part of our body, you cannot go to the doctor and take medicine, but you can get rid of impulse control disorder by meeting with a specialist psychologist and finding and eliminating the reasons behind your nail biting.
Even if we refer to it as nail-biting disease, this habit is actually considered a symptom of another psychological disorder. Like many impulse control disorders, nail biting will turn into a situation that you can control and do not need to do as your psychology improves.
The control is in your hands; How to quit nail biting habit?
- Avoid triggers that lead you to nail biting.
- Keep your mouth and hand busy by chewing gum or holding something in your hand.
- Try to keep your stress level under control.
- Cut your nails short and neatly.
- Apply something that tastes bitter to your nails.
Of course, the first thing you need to do is to find out why your nail biting habit is and try to eliminate this reason, but as this is not always possible, you can at least try to quit your nail biting habit. Rest assured, if you get rid of this habit, you will feel much better.
We answered questions such as what is nail biting disease, one of the most common habits, why it is caused, and how to leave it. What we describe is for informational purposes only. Do not forget that you should get the most accurate and specific information about nail biting from a specialist doctor, as in all health issues.
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