Anonymous wrote:Gross? Insecure? Nervous? Something else?

Tell the truth; you won't offend me. I cycle around between 75% biter (like, down to ragged stumps) and 25% pretty, healthy nails. I can only stop with a few coats of Nailtiques and OCD-like attention to cuticle cream, etc, and I am trying to get back on the wagon again! But for now, tell me your impression when you see someone nibbling or when you see clearly bitten nails.

I don't think anything. Just a habit. Like all habits, hard to break.

I'm not a nail biter, though think I did as a kid. I remember being bribed by my mom to stop. I liked the prize, so it worked. Not an issue for me now. If anything, I'd prefer to pick at the cuticles. So I will give one word of caution on the manicures. I almost never let them come at me with the cuticle nippers. The more they touch the cuticles and skin around the tops of nails (if those are cuticles), the more they need to be cut. I have some pesky skin that once they touch it, months will go by before I stop picking at it.

So now, if I go for a manicure, I say, forego the nippers! Maybe having short, polished nails will keep you from biting...or at least be a deterrent. I just caution the manicure as a solution.

To answer the original question, based on an ex and two kids who have bitten their nails on and off. I think, "what's wrong?" b/c with at least one kid and the ex, it is anxiety. It's also habit so takes a long time to change, even if you are motivated. I do think it made my ex look unprofessional. You're talking and next thing you know, the other person is eating their nails (which, is part of your body and not that much different than picking your nose).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a nailbiter (age 41) and always have been. I know it makes me look unpolished, uncouth, anxious, or some combination of all of the above, but I still cannot stop. I do think there probably *is* a connection to anxiety b/c I do take medication for depression/anxiety, but unlike some other PPs, this medication, while it does help me, doesn't seem to be able to do anything about the nail-biting. I was a thumb-sucker when I was little and I personally (my own uneducated opinion!) think my parents forced me to wean from that too early, and therefore I really picked up the nailbiting hardcore. I remember them putting socks on my hands, taping up my thumb with masking tape, etc. to prevent me from thumb-sucking, and it was a really long and upsetting process for me. Who knows.

Similar experience (37-year-old nailbiter).

41yo back. I can still distinctly taste the masking tape in my mouth, the sensation of my trying to suck my thumb with the masking tape taped over it. Craziness. Eventually of course the top layers of the tape would peel off. Again: craziness, now, when I think about this as an adult. I was so glad when I realized my now 6yo DD doesn't seem to have any of this going on. People are just different, I guess! But one thing I did do with her, differently is: when I saw her picking at her fingernails and toenails (at bedtime, after I put her in bed, and then I'd discover the evidence in the a.m.) when she was about 4-5, I realized that she wanted to even out her nails and that was just something she wanted to do in her bed after we put her to sleep, so I gave her (probably against majority parenting judgment) a pair of manicure scissors to keep in her room on her dresser and she can go and get those anytime she wants and prune and cut and shape her own nails anytime she wants. I figured it was better to let her do it this way, with scissors, than to get her into a biting and picking habit, which she then may fight for a lifetime to get rid of.

Anonymous wrote:I am a nailbiter (age 41) and always have been. I know it makes me look unpolished, uncouth, anxious, or some combination of all of the above, but I still cannot stop. I do think there probably *is* a connection to anxiety b/c I do take medication for depression/anxiety, but unlike some other PPs, this medication, while it does help me, doesn't seem to be able to do anything about the nail-biting. I was a thumb-sucker when I was little and I personally (my own uneducated opinion!) think my parents forced me to wean from that too early, and therefore I really picked up the nailbiting hardcore. I remember them putting socks on my hands, taping up my thumb with masking tape, etc. to prevent me from thumb-sucking, and it was a really long and upsetting process for me. Who knows.

Similar experience (37-year-old nailbiter).

Anonymous wrote:I just feel sorry for them like they aren't in control of themself, are unaware of how they appear, or are uneducated.

Frankly, you are the one who sounds ignorant. I bite my nails, and trust me, I am well aware of how they appear and I am highly educated. I strongly suspect that most people who bite their nails know perfectly well that they don't look good, and would quit if they could. And I know plenty of smart, educated women who bite their nails.

Nail-biting is a nervous habit--I bite or pick at my nails when I am feeling anxious, stressed, or bored. If I can swing regular professional manicures (every week), I can get it under control, but if they start getting the least bit raggedy, I'm back off the wagon.

Here's another anecdote: A friend I've known since childhood always bit hit nails. Some time in his 30s he suddenly stopped, without trying and for no reason he could think of. A couple of years later he was having trouble at work, went to the doctor, and was diagnosed with adult ADD. He went on meds and suddenly started biting his nails again.

So there's that.

Anxious person with poor hygiene. I've never seen a nail bitter run immediately afterwards to wash their hands

I am a nailbiter (age 41) and always have been. I know it makes me look unpolished, uncouth, anxious, or some combination of all of the above, but I still cannot stop. I do think there probably *is* a connection to anxiety b/c I do take medication for depression/anxiety, but unlike some other PPs, this medication, while it does help me, doesn't seem to be able to do anything about the nail-biting. I was a thumb-sucker when I was little and I personally (my own uneducated opinion!) think my parents forced me to wean from that too early, and therefore I really picked up the nailbiting hardcore. I remember them putting socks on my hands, taping up my thumb with masking tape, etc. to prevent me from thumb-sucking, and it was a really long and upsetting process for me. Who knows.

Anonymous wrote:I just feel sorry for them like they aren't in control of themself, are unaware of how they appear, or are uneducated.

I've bitten an occasional hangnail in a moment when moving and I get a painful snag, but other than that I just think it's so dirty.

But equally gross imho is people who DON"T cut their nails, especiall men, with long uneven snaggy nails. It is absolutely mentally ill looking.

Uneducated? What an ignorant response.

Anonymous wrote:
But equally gross imho is people who DON"T cut their nails, especiall men, with long uneven snaggy nails. It is absolutely mentally ill looking.

Not a nail-biter, but very long nails gross me out WAY more than bitten ones. ::shudders::