Self-hypnosis Can Break The Nail Biting Habit

By Alan B. Densky, CH

Nail biting, is related to skin picking and hair pulling. Skin picking, hair pulling, and nail biting are labeled as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders. Nail biters often keep their hands hidden behind their backs. Nail biters often feel social embarrassment and experience out-of-control feelings at times. At times they may wonder why they can't stop and they also question whether or not they are crazy.

Biting usually happens when people are in one of two modes. Some people do it in an automatic way, as if they are in some kind of altered state and not really thinking about what they are doing. Usually, they are immersed in some other activity at the same time such as watching TV or working on the computer, etc. For others, their main activity at the time is the actual picking or biting, and they will frequently interrupt their other activities to engage in it.

There is a strong commonality in the various purposes behind hair pulling, skin picking, and nail biting. At the most basic level, these symptoms satisfy an urge. Many people report an uncontrollable feeling of needing to do them. Pulling, picking or biting also seems to deliver a pleasurable or relaxed sensation.

When sufferers feel stressed, pulling, picking or biting has a kind of soothing effect on their nervous systems, and reduces levels of stimulation. On the other hand, when they are bored or inactive, they seem to provide a needed level of stimulation to the nervous system. This may account for why so many people who have these habits find it so hard to stop. It simply "feels good" at the time, no matter no matter what the outcomes are.

Even if you suffer from more than one of these habits, do not despair. These symptoms can be overcome if you have the motivation. More important is learning to "de-stigmatize" yourself. You are not crazy, helpless, morally weak or totally out of control, even though you may feel like you are at times. Once you become aware of the fact that you are just a person who simply happens to have a problem, you can make serious progress.

Skin picking and nail biting are chronic problems, so there currently isn't a 'cure', but you can find a recovery if you are willing to work at it. Treatment for nail biting consists of three parts.

Treatment For People Who Bite Their Nails

To start with, nail biting is a stress related habit. So the first part of the hypnotherapy is to teach the individual how to be more relaxed at all times. To that end, I have found that traditional hypnosis, Ericksonian hypnosis, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques are usually quite effective. That's because the very essence of hypnosis is relaxation. The biter can learn to apply several different methods to enhance both the relaxed state, as well as his/her overall feeling of relaxation and well-being.

The second part of the treatment teaches the individual to become aware of this unconscious habit. Suggestions can be given to the subconscious mind to make the conscious mind aware that you are about to bite your nails. Then you get to consciously decide whether or not you are actually going to bite them.

There are also several other powerful techniques. As an example, we can help the client to set up an "Anchor" or trigger so that he/she can momentarily mentally step outside of him/herself. This is an excellent technique that will effectively relieve the compulsion to bite.

The third part of the hypnotherapy is to eliminate the compulsion to bite. There are NLP techniques that actually program the client with a compulsion to reject biting his/her nails.

With this particular behavior, being realistic is very important. First, you have rehearsed the unwanted habit hundreds or even thousands of times. You will need to accept that the urge to bite your nails will not be overcome in a few days.

Second, you are fighting the fact that it feels good to do, and it offers a lot of short term satisfaction and either stimulation or soothing feelings. It can take a little time to overcome, but I believe it is well worth it. Experience has shown a number of techniques to be quite effective!