Nail Biting by Kelly Jean sullivan

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Is biting your nails a mental disorder?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, categorizes chronic nail biting as other specified obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), classified in the same group as compulsive lip biting, nose picking, and hair pulling (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

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What does nail biting indicate?

Nail biting explained

Anxiety: Nail biting can be a sign of anxiety or stress. The repetitive behavior seems to help some people cope with challenging emotions. Boredom: Behaviors such as nail biting and hair twirling are more common when you're bored, hungry, or need to keep your hands busy.What causes obsessive nail biting?

According to some studies (6, 11), nail biting (as well as hair pulling or skin picking) may be caused by over-stimulation (due to stress or excitement) or under-stimulation (due to boredom or inactivity). Onychophagia can be treated as a kind of a compulsion that may cause destruction of the nails

Is nail biting linked to ADHD?

Therefore, nail biting is a possible indication of the presence of the more severe ADHD-C subtype. Our results imply that a nail biting habit among these ADHD children is more related to insufficient parenting skills, rather than being part of general anxiety symptoms.