Sometimes, you may feel powerless against the situation. You are in a spot and you know that you are unable to do anything to extricate yourself from the situation. Here there is no feeling of nervousness but only a feeling of helplessness. Nail biting takes place as a passive response to a challenge against which you feel totally powerless. This is one reason why the habit of nail biting …show more content…
They commit a mischief and are caught. When they are confronted by their parents or teachers, they just stand biting their nails. This is apparently a defense mechanism devised by the subconscious mind to prevent the children from doing something that could aggravate the situation. With both the hands and the mouth kept occupied, the children cannot say anything that will go against them, nor can they do anything using their hands. Nail biting becomes a harmless act compared to the alternative of speaking!
Over a period, this becomes a programmed reaction to unpleasant situations and gets entrenched as a habit. Thus, even when there is no problem, some people may keep biting their nails.
We have seen the psychological reasons for nail biting. There are also psychological effects of this habit, in addition to well known physiological effects. Since biting nails was originally conceived as a response to a negative situation, the mind begins to associate nail biting with problems. Thus the habit creates the situation of a problem in their day to day life in the mind's perception, even when no problem