14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new study in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, people who are in the habit of biting their nails, picking at their skin or pulling their hair do so not because of anxiety.
Instead, researchers argue that these behaviors signal frustration and boredom, which in turn indicates that a person is unable to chill and deal with one task or another at a relaxed pace. Apparently, this hints at perfectionism.
“We believe that individuals with these repetitive behaviors maybe perfectionistic, meaning that they are unable to relax and to perform tasks at a ‘normal’ pace,” explains University of Montreal researcher Kieron O'Connor.
As part of their investigation into what repetitive behaviors like nail biting, skin picking and hair pulling say about a person, specialist Kieron O’Connor and colleagues subjected a total of 48 volunteers to a series of tests.
These tests were designed to make them feel anxious, nervous, bored or frustrated. During the experiments, it was discovered that the volunteers were more likely to engage in repetitive behaviors when experiencing frustration and boredom.
In light of their findings, the specialists behind this investigation recommend that people who bite their nails or display other repetitive behaviors of this kind see a specialist and try to find other ways to cope with frustration and boredom.