Nervous Habits Can Be Shaken Off

Many people around the globe suffer from a host of compulsive, nervous habits, which they can't seem to be able to shake off. These individuals know they shouldn't be doing what they do, but, when asked, they always respond that they can't help themselves. Regardless of whether it's smoking, biting their nails, sucking their thumbs, or overeating, these behaviors are everywhere. But scientists say that they can be shaken off with relative ease, if people just put their minds into it, LiveScience reports.

“Any habit that is perpetuated is rewarded. So in some way it makes them feel more relaxed, or it gives them something else – if it weren't rewarded they wouldn't keep doing it, so they're getting something from it,” NYC psychologist Carol Goldberg explains. Experts also argue that, most of the time, these behaviors aren't even triggered by emotional discomfort, anxiety or stress, as some suggested. Rather, people seem to be engaging in their respective habits even when they are relaxed, or watching their favorite show on TV.

These behaviors can also influence a person's quality of life in a negative manner. “From that point of view, of catching something, having your dirty fingernails in your mouth is not a very good idea. Socially, it doesn't look nice [either]. If you bite your nails, it doesn't show you off as well,” Goldberg adds. Hands are known to harbor thousands of species of bacteria, some of which have the potential to cause serious medical conditions. Most of the times, psychologists say, nail-biting is a reminiscence from childhood and infancy, when the habit might have been thought of as soothing.

But quitting these actions may not be as difficult as it might seem at first, researchers are quick to point out. They say that, for example, tucking your hands in your pockets, wearing gloves, or squeezing a stress ball can help you not bite your nails anymore. Or, of course, you could just stop doing it altogether. But perhaps the most important step is figuring out when you engage in such behaviors. “Once you get a sense of that, you can begin to track when it's happening and work to interfere with it as sort of an automatic type behavior,” psychologist Penny Donnenfeld, also from New York City, adds.

While nail-biting has little influence on overall health, if people keep their hands in good hygiene, overeating is especially dangerous, because it can lead to a host of severe complications, in addition to obesity or diabetes. “You can live without biting your nails, but you have to eat food. So food is something where you have to be able to exert control in terms of not letting the amount become overwhelming,” Goldberg explains.