Compulsive Nail Biting

• What is it?
• Could you be affected?
• Treatment
• Recommended reading

What is compulsive nail biting?

Nail biting (which is also known as onychophagia) is when an individual will continuously bite their nails past the nail bed. Cuticles are often bitten until they bleed. Individuals who carry out this behavior experience red, sore and infected fingers. Repeated and severe biting of the nail or cuticles can lead to Nail biters will also often try to keep their hands hidden behind their backs or in their pockets so that others do not see the damage that has been caused by the nail biting.

Some individuals who nail bite do so automatically without conscious thought. Usually the individual will be involved in another activity such as reading or watching TV. For other individuals, the nail biting and it carried out deliberately and is central to the individual's focus. This type of nail biter will often aim to bite off rough feeling skin, broken parts of the cuticle or broken bits of the nail. The main reasons for this type of nail biting are to ensure that the nail looks or feels perfect.

Could you be affected by compulsive nail biting?

• Do you find that you bite your nails as a way of reducing anxiety or tension?
• Do you try to hide your nails so that others do not see?
• Do you find that your nails are constantly red and sore?
• Do you find that biting your nails is something that you can't stop doing, even if they bleed?

Treatment

Treatment for CSP has mostly been centred on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT can be particularly useful if the skin picking is carried out as a conditioned response to a specific situation or event. The triggers that lead to the skin picking will often not be known by the individual and CBT helps to raise aware of what these triggers could be.

Emotional freedom technique (EFT) can also be used to treat compulsive skin picking. Applying the mechanical steps of EFT will usually work to assist the individual to reduce the behaviour. EFT can also work to address the underlying cause of the compulsion, as the compulsion will often be carried out in an attempt to “tranquilise” anxiety.

Recommended reading