No, this is not in reference to the song by The Offspring...although it ranks as my favorite song by them.
I've had this habit about as long as I remember, minus the three years I had braces. The habit? Biting my nails.
My nails were gorgeous from eight through tenth grade, as the bits of nail would get stuck between the wires. Yes, I know that sounds disgusting. One would have thought that after three years of not doing it, I would have kicked the habit. Nope.
The only other time I haven't bitten my nails was my phase of acrylic nails, which lasted from my wedding to about six months later. When the nails hindered me from doing basic home improvement tasks, I stopped. Sadly, I did try to bite the acrylics. I never succeeded. And once I stopped getting my nails done - you guessed it - I was back to my old ways.
But why? Nail biting in itself is defined as an impulse control disorder (falling into the OCD category). If there is a trigger for nail biting, it is usually stress or anxiety. In my case, I think it's two-fold: a habit because I feel I constantly have to be doing something with my hands and general anxiety. It makes sense. I'm told I run on two speeds - stop and go. If I'm not doing something somewhat active (physically or mentally), I will fall asleep. As for anxiety...well, if you read the end of my previous blog, no explanation is really needed.
This gave me an idea. I've pretty much kicked the caffeine habit (although I do have the occasional frappucino or diet cherry Dr. Pepper/vodka drink). I've started to make the effort to lose that final 20 lbs (yay for boot camp!) So, what's one more thing, really?
Yup, I've decided to attempt to stop biting my nails. I bought the bitter nail polish deterrent-type stuff and everything. Plus, it's now been four whole days since I've bitten them.
However, I have discovered that I can now tap my nails on tables, walls, etc. and make noise. This might just lead to a new habit....
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