Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Why do I bite my nails?
Hey, Matt:
I have this really gross habit of biting not only my fingernails but the skin around them. I've been doing this since I was a little kid and have been told it's a "nervous habit." But I'm not really a nervous person. I just enjoy doing it. Why am I doing this? Is it common? I know bout that stuff parents put on kids' fingers to get them to stop, but it'll never work with me. I'll just get used to the taste.
-- Chewy, the net
By now you're in a pretty exclusive club, Chewy. Surveys say only about 5% of adults bite their nails. Virtually all of them started as little tads; 28 to 33% of kids bite their nails at some time. Adolescents 44%. And 20% to 30% of young adults. You may not be "nervous," but from what's known about the activity, it likely started as a tension-reducer and now has mutated into a full-blown habit. It may serve no calming purpose now, but it did at one time. (Although nail-biting certainly calms you down when you have the uncontrollable urge to bite your nails.) It's an activity like lip chewing or knuckle cracking, or hair twisting. They're sometimes called "control patterns" because they can stop or reduce the tension caused by bad feelings. Do you come from a family of nail-biters? It can be a learned habit.
As for getting rid of it, how about willpower? You may bite your nails unconsciously, so try to catch yourself before you do and stop the habit pattern. Substitute a good habit for that bad habit (toothpick, gum, something mouth satisfying). Carry nail clippers and a file to keep your nails neat. And, hey, I'll bet anything there's a 12-step Nail Biters Anonymous out there somewhere.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Why do I bite my nails?
Why do I bite my nails?
Hey, Matt:
I have this really gross habit of biting not only my fingernails but the skin around them. I've been doing this since I was a little kid and have been told it's a "nervous habit." But I'm not really a nervous person. I just enjoy doing it. Why am I doing this? Is it common? I know bout that stuff parents put on kids' fingers to get them to stop, but it'll never work with me. I'll just get used to the taste.
-- Chewy, the net
By now you're in a pretty exclusive club, Chewy. Surveys say only about 5% of adults bite their nails. Virtually all of them started as little tads; 28 to 33% of kids bite their nails at some time. Adolescents 44%. And 20% to 30% of young adults. You may not be "nervous," but from what's known about the activity, it likely started as a tension-reducer and now has mutated into a full-blown habit. It may serve no calming purpose now, but it did at one time. (Although nail-biting certainly calms you down when you have the uncontrollable urge to bite your nails.) It's an activity like lip chewing or knuckle cracking, or hair twisting. They're sometimes called "control patterns" because they can stop or reduce the tension caused by bad feelings. Do you come from a family of nail-biters? It can be a learned habit.
As for getting rid of it, how about willpower? You may bite your nails unconsciously, so try to catch yourself before you do and stop the habit pattern. Substitute a good habit for that bad habit (toothpick, gum, something mouth satisfying). Carry nail clippers and a file to keep your nails neat. And, hey, I'll bet anything there's a 12-step Nail Biters Anonymous out there somewhere.
Comments