Nail Biters, cheek biters, skin biters: Beware

So a little birdie told me that biting my nails isn't just a bad habit but a condition. Psychologists actually consider this a disorder combing self image, stress, and even OCD.

I know....Crazy Right?

Then I looked it up. Here's what I found:

More problematic is chronic cheek biting, usually due to some sort of misalignment in your teeth, or perhaps due to TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder)

Which btw I have TMJ so that's great for me but for people without TMJ it also says

Onychophagia (also onychophagy) or nail biting, is an oral compulsive habit (sometimes described as a parafunctional activity) in children and adults.

Nail biting is considered an impulse control disorder in the DSM-IV-R, and is classified under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in the DSM-5.

I knew I wasn't supposed to be biting my nails this bad (they end up bleeding sometimes). Biting my nails has always been a problem. I used to, in high school, have my friends slap my hands when I started biting my nails because I didn't even realize I was doing it.

High school is over and now the only one on "nail bite duty" is moi. It sucks because if I bite my nails too bad then I stop and I catch myself biting my lips. If I catch myself biting my lips I stop and randomly catch myself biting the inside of my cheeks. If I catch myself doing that then I stop and catch myself biting the skin around my nails. and then that's all sore and red and bleeding that I try to stop and suddenly my nails, lips, and cheeks are all sore and I'm left wondering when I was doing this all.

All the people that have the same problem as I do are being told to get a psychologist because they have a serious disorder.....So maybe that means I do to.

It feels like I have a problem with this too. My dad keeps saying that "mind over matter" and "the mind is a powerful thing" oh and my favorite "just stop biting your nails. just don't do it"....and I'm just siting here like "uh, it's not that easy"

I don't think to myself "hey lets bite my nails now" I don't sit around thinking about the perfect oppertunity to bite my nails. I don't even realize I am doing it, or that I did it. I will get done watching a movie and all my nails are gone. I have tried the crapy tasting nail polish and easy ways to stop biting nails and they never work. I have biting my nails and my cheek, and my lips, and my skin around my nails. I hate it. I have enough body image issues regularly without having to deal with the fact that my hands are ugly because I have no nails.

I know it has something to do with stress too. Today I just found out that I somehow have to buy 600.00 worth of school books for this semester of college. My nails are considerably shorter than they were this morning. Which is saying something because they were pretty bad this morning.

Seems like the little birdie was right. I probably do have a disorder where biting my nails is concerned.

Is it the same with you?

Google is a powerful thing. Go find out if you have a problem.

I'm going to go try putting band-aids on all of my nails.