Nail Biting Causes

To some, nail biting is just viewed as another bad habit that anyone could have, but did you know that one of the main nail biting causes is attributed to psychology? Well the answer is yes and the condition is referred to medical professionals as onychophagia. Onychophagia often manifests when the person is tired, bored or hungry and some doctors have even associated the disorder to OCD.

From a behavioral point of view nail biting is a habit that typically starts out when someone is child, although it can prevail at any age. Most adults who have the habit of biting their nails began when they were around 10 years old. According to statistics in the study of nail biting causes, 35% of kids between the ages of 6 and 10, 44% of teenagers and somewhere between 20% and 30% of adults bite there nails regularly.

In older adults the habit is less prevalent, but studies show that the disorder still effects around 5% to 7% of the adult population. There are millions of people in the United States that bite their nails on a regular basis, but there are methods that can put an end to this problem.

Statistics show that the onset of the nail biting disorder is most common with the subject is in puberty. Studies of biting nails psychology have found links between the volatile change of emotions that accompany puberty and the behavior associated with nail biting. All of the emotions associated with puberty typically cause anxiety and stress and so it’s no surprise that the two are correlated. It’s also good news that as many leave puberty disorders like onychophagia often subside naturally.

There are many nail biting causes and as such there are many ways to control and temper the behavior associated with nail biting. As many findings have shown that it can be a learned behavior, then it can also be un-learned. Other specialists suggest that subjects keep track of when the habit occurs and to substitute nail biting with some other stimulus at that point. As nail biting is often associated with stress and anxiety, simply relaxing may be enough for some to overcome this disorder as well.