housecatt1

Hi... (not sure if this is the best forum for a weird question ... lol ... but here goes...)

Do any of you bite your fingernails?

This is probably going to sound silly... and may be an indication that I should have a talk with someone professional about my thoughts... but I thought I'd put it out there. Try not to laugh.

I've always chewed my fingernails, ever since I was a kid. From time to time, I try hard to grow them and they stay nice for about a week or two... then it's back to chewing again.

What I notice is that when I get control over my nails, I also seem to have better control over my life, including alcohol. And, going the other way, when I put a good effort into staying sober, I seem to cut back on the chewing.

Is this weird ?? What connection do my nails have with my drinking? I'm guessing it's a self-control thing and when I'm feeling good about one thing, I feel good about other things ... or maybe that's too simple an explanation.

Right now, I'm doing pretty well with staying away from the bottle, and my nails are looking pretty good.

... Maybe I'm trying to read way too much into my bad habits!

Thanks for listening anyway!

And Happy Boozeless St. Patty's day to ya. :spdi

~ Catt

Roxann

Catt, I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. When I was using, I bit my nails down to the knuckles damn near!!! But now, 45 days clean, I have nails so long and pretty that people think they are acrylics!! I don't know the "whys" of it, or the physcology but how interesting to know that we aren't alone huh?

((HUGS)) I think I'll go get a french manicure today.

housecatt1

hehe ... thanks for the reply! ... We're not alone!

~Catt

Evanna

Hey Catt,
Dont know about the pyschology of it but i do know that i bit my nails down to the quicks eversince i was a young child. Last year at 39yrs old i just stopped. No thought to it, no effort, i just woke up one day and wasnt a nail bitter anymore. I would have been around 18mths clean at the time. I think this is an optimistic sign of growing inner peace because i have been in recovery before and this has never happened to me in those clean times.
Well done for staying away from the bottle and the fine looking nails.
Warmest wishes
Evanna.

CarolD

I quit viting my nails when I got sober.


These days if I start to nibble I know my serenity is wishy washy!! Time for more recovery work!!

wingsfree

Hi (((Catt))).....nice to meet you.....a warm welcome coming your way, so happy you found SR.

Nail bitter oh yeah, since I was a kid and to this day...I'll be 50 at the end of the year...holy cow 50 holy moly, holy smokes...waaaaaa...saying that number and seeing it two different things....back to biting my nails now, lol.

My mother used to try everything to stop me from biting them, she threatened to put cat poo on the end of them..oh as if....then she resorted to telling me, people who bite there nails there is something wrong with their heads.....no kidding...what a thing to tell your kid....anyway it never did stop me.....maybe when I get some good sober time in I will stop, I'm sure it's all connected.

I once knew a girl who bit her toe nails....yeah I know ewwww, it was sorta interesting watching here, especially when she was pregnant, it got a bit trickier for her, lol.....and I thought I had issues.

Oh yeah I did a test on A.D.D...it asked if you bit your nails?

Congrats on your sober time, and your beautiful nails.

Denise (a sober nail biter today) we can't have everything can we?

squirrelly77

Hey Catt

I don't remember where I read this, but a recovered alcoholic made the same correlation between nite biters and heavy drinkers. He also added that these people are also big gum and pencil eraser chewers. I can say that I definitely bite my nails, a lot, since I was a litte kid. And, I also like chewing gum...but pencil erasers? That's a negative.
He said that he didn't know the exact psychological or physiological explanation, but he did mention that oral fixation might be somewhat related. I know that I mentioned here before the theory that those of us that, for some reason or another, didn't fully satisfy the "oral" stage of child development--usually have problems with addiction. Of course this hasn't been proven, but a lot of data shows that there might be a relationship between the two. I'm not a hard-core Freudian theorist, but I like to look at differenct facts from every view point. I don't know...interesting stuff...but I know better than to mention the whole-breast-feeding-thing again. *LOL*

Welcome, BTW

Danielle

housecatt1

Thanks for the interesting replies!

Evanna, my aunt did the same thing as you .. she bit and bit and bit .. and when she turned 40 (not 39 .. lol) she just stopped and never bit again. She's in her 50's now.

CarolD, you sound like me too ... I think it's pretty neat how drinking and nail biting kinda seem to go together ... in a negative way, for sure. It's interesting!

Justme, I knew someone who used to bite her toenails too ... this pretty, popular girl back in junior high, or maybe it was high school. Maybe there's more toenail biting going on out there than we think!

Squirrelly, that's interesting .. I liked your post .. thanks! .... I used to not only chew erasers, but I'd eat 'em too .. as a matter of fact, I would eat one now if someone dared me .. .. I also used to chew paper, and eat it ... I'm not a big gum chewer though .. I guess I go for the more "bland" flavours ... *lol* ... I do have to wonder about that oral thing. You never know.

Wasn't Freud a cocaine user?

squirrelly77

Hmmm...yeah, I think he was Catt. We used to talk about that, and the fact that he was a huge pot-head too in my 12th grade Psychology class.

grrl1

hi catt.
i chew on my nails all the time, but i think it's cuz i don't eat meat and need the protein (ha ha)

xoxo shawn

housecatt1

Squirrelly.. hehe.. maybe it was pot.. I haven't studied that Freud stuff in quite awhile .. lol .. but I remember it was pretty interesting!

Grrl.. I remember hearing something about people that chew their nails, and eat other weird things, when their bodies are looking for protein ... maybe the drinking causes a lack of protein somehow... or something along those lines ... you never know! ...

Cathy31

interesting thread! when I am sober I don't bite my nails and they look lovely. When I am drinking being destructive (same thing) I bit my nails. My WORST biting sprees used to be the morning after the night before when i would lie wide eyed, horrified in my bed assuaged by guilt and remorse and chew and chew and chew on those poor nails!
Verrrry interesting!
cath
xx

squirrelly77

This reminds me...I just saw a TV show where they were talking about people eating sand and dirt because their bodies are lacking in certain nutrients too...like, iron.
Brings me back to those pre-school days spent in sand-boxes! I remember one day, one of the aides was walking around with a shovel full of sand, daring kids to eat it (as a joke). All of them went, "OK! I'll do it"...but when she got close to their mouth with the shovel, they'd turn their head and go "...ewwwww!". But when she got to me I actually ate the stuff, because I would before. It totally freaked her out.

Ahhh, memories! *LOL*

Evanna

lmao, that 39 was important.

Applecrumble

Yup I dont bite my fingernails , but bite lips and pick skin (gross, I know). correlates with stress, guilt cos it's self soothing. Used to do it worst when lying in Front of tv off my face hehe ... Not sure why.

I like the idea of philisi's post though - look after and nurture those bits to challenge the instinct to harm/absent mindedly ignore.