What the habit of nail biting says about your health
There are many things that people who have a problem with nerves or anxiety can do, such as walking from one side to the other, throwing a pencil or biting it, grinding their teeth, etc., and among these behaviors you can also find the bad habit of Nail biting, however, this is not the only cause that leads a person to bite their nails.
The perfectionist
Recent research has found that it could be more than just anxious behavior. Biting your nails could say something about your personality . It is still highly associated with nervous behavior. Some psychologists associate it with people who are obsessive compulsive. However, a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology and Behavior Therapy says that stress isn’t the only thing that can bring out nervous tics. It can be the result of someone who is a perfectionist .
A Montreal research team classifies nail biting as a “ repetitive, body-centered behavior ”. Other types of behaviors that fall into this category include playing with or pulling hair and scratching the skin.
One of the lead researchers, Kieron O’connor gave this explanation about the behavior:
“ Although these behaviors can induce significant distress, they also appear to satisfy an urge and deliver some form of reward. We believe that people with these repetitive behaviors can be perfectionists, which means that they are unable to relax and perform the task at a normal pace . “
This can affect people in a number of ways. Kieron describes these effects:
“ Therefore, they are prone to frustration, impatience and dissatisfaction when they do not achieve their goals. They also experience higher levels of boredom . “
To study these behaviors – and the people afflicted by them – 48 individuals gathered. Half of the group exhibited the repetitive behaviors and the other half did not. A selection process was used. This included clinical assessments over the phone and questionnaires evaluating the emotions and personality of each person.
The participants were then tested in four different scenarios designed to elicit specific emotional states. Stress, relaxation, frustration and boredom.
Individuals with a history of repetitive behaviors reported a desire to engage in repetitive behaviors more than those who did not have that habit. This occurred for every emotional scenario, except for relaxation.
This seems quite logical, considering the above problem with behaviors. Experiments show that these tendencies can be triggered by more than just feeling nervous.
Sarah Roberts, the study director, explains:
” This means that the condition is not simply because habits” nervous “. The findings suggest that people who suffer from repetitive, body-centered behaviors could benefit from treatments designed to reduce frustration and boredom and to modify perfectionist beliefs . “
Spotting the Perfectionist
So that person that you notice moving his foot a lot or grinding his teeth is not necessarily worried about something. It could very well be a sign of perfectionist tendencies .
Being a perfectionist is not necessarily a bad thing. Setting ambitious goals and motivating yourself for high achievement can be rewarding. However, some studies have found that the real danger of perfectionism comes from the unhealthy thought patterns that can accompany the personality trait.
Repetitive, body-centered behaviors can be one of the downsides of having a perfectionist personality.