Nail Biting caused by Stress Hormones or Endotoxin? A sterile gut should settle this...

[ChetnikPeater]

Hello fellow Peaters,

Nail biting is something I have been struggling with nearly my whole life, barely to ever even get a week by before going back to this disgusting habit.

I believe this habit has many concurrent causes, working together to create the slight sense of subconscious stress that this habit helps heal. I am looking for more ways to clear out endotoxin, and lower inflammation to see if this has an effect.

Even in my healthiest periods, I still enjoy this habit.

Dr. Peat has spoken that all addictions help one return to homeostasis and induldging in this addiction is simply the body curing its own stress. This makes sense for smoking and drinking, but nail biting/picking does nothing to help lower stress, at least chemically. It clearly does help cope with some type of barely noticeable stress, although it clearly works by your brain only enjoying the feeling.

Anyone have any similar experiences and issues? Would anyone else like to chime their opinion on this matter?

Also, has anyone else been able to avoid these bad habits?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I never really thought of the nail biting problem I had as a child until now. It was a bad one, where I would bite below the “quick” and my nails would bleed. My mother tried to get me to stop, painting a nasty tasting nail polish on my nails, I think it was called Bite-X. I still remember how awful it was, but my habit prevailed and I bit my nails despite the taste. Now putting two and two together, it was a stressful time in my life when I started biting my nails, with my parents going through an unbelievably bitter divorce, which this post makes me think must have triggered the habit. I don’t know when or how it went away, I think maybe it was when we moved far away from the city to the country. My life didn’t get better, getting a whole different set of problems, but having that kind of daily engaging in nature may have helped to solve the problem. During the divorce we didn’t eat well either, if at all, but my mother remarried soon after the divorce, and that made her cook for her new husband, so my brother and I were eating again. So it seems stress and nutrition could be a cause, thinking back on it now. Any habit becomes ingrained in you if you let it go on too long, so yours is probably just a habit from repetition and nothing else. I got in and out of my habit. I remember when I tried cigarettes as a late teen, feeling angry with my home life and I was perfectly happy with the habit, until I saw myself in a store window and didn’t like the image I was projecting. Self awareness is a good cure for a lot of bad habits. What you see within yourself looking out is a very different picture than what others see looking at us. I can tell who the nail biters are.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Nail biting is known medically as onychophagia. It is a type of self-grooming behavior involving biting and chewing the nails, including the toenails. It is a destructive habit, especially when it is repeated and exhibited in response to stressful circumstances.

Nail biting can lead to serious problems such as infection and mental health conditions.”


In the US, research has shown that up to one in three people meet the clinical diagnostic criteria for the presence of at least one pathological grooming behavior. This statistic is rather surprising given the figures are greater than those for depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse (Maraz, et al. 2017; Bijil et al., 1998; Offord, et al., 1996).

“What are the reasons behind nail biting? Research has revealed the following common reasons for the behavior (Siddiqui et al., 2020):

• Nervousness: Due to stress and anxiety. In this instance, nail biting is temporarily appealing due to the calming effect it has on the nervous system
• Emotions: Our emotional make-up is integral to why we turn to nail biting. Shyness and low self-esteem can have an effect in addition to the pain caused by highly traumatic life events such as death or divorce
• Perfectionism: As discussed above those with this trait exhibit a low tolerance for boredom and frustration that is alleviated by nail-biting
• Boredom: due to inactivity/for want of finding something better to do
• Imitation: Children copying adult behavior
• Psychosomatic: This is usually seen in aggressive families

And this list brings us to the psychology of nail-biting, a behavior frequently associated with mental health conditions and, less obviously, with a particular type of personality.“

The Psychology Behind Nail Biting

Nail biting can be serious and it is one of the least understood and most misdiagnosed disorders there is.

www.news-medical.net

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

5 Tips on How To Stop Nail Biting – Cleveland Clinic

To stop chronic nail biting, try an approach that includes behavioral therapy, self-care and relaxation, and getting treatment for any psychiatric disorders.

health.clevelandclinic.org

 

[Peater]

Hello fellow Peaters,

Nail biting is something I have been struggling with nearly my whole life, barely to ever even get a week by before going back to this disgusting habit.

I believe this habit has many concurrent causes, working together to create the slight sense of subconscious stress that this habit helps heal. I am looking for more ways to clear out endotoxin, and lower inflammation to see if this has an effect.

Even in my healthiest periods, I still enjoy this habit.

Dr. Peat has spoken that all addictions help one return to homeostasis and induldging in this addiction is simply the body curing its own stress. This makes sense for smoking and drinking, but nail biting/picking does nothing to help lower stress, at least chemically. It clearly does help cope with some type of barely noticeable stress, although it clearly works by your brain only enjoying the feeling.

Anyone have any similar experiences and issues? Would anyone else like to chime their opinion on this matter?

Also, has anyone else been able to avoid these bad habits?

I've done it as long as I can remember...same story as @Rinse & rePeat with the bitter stuff. I just got used to the taste. I think it's due to an innately screwed up, or at least over-sensitive nervous system.

 

[Raw Egg Gnostic]

I used to bite my nails but basically stopped without trying after starting to drink raw egg yolks. This could possibly have been helped by other factors but I notice if I start to slack on the eggs I start to bite them again. Best wishes.