Crypticel

Forgot to update, but I spoke to a doctor a couple of weeks ago, as the first step I promised myself in overcoming my anxiety problems.

It was pretty easy in the end, the doctor was very understanding, said everything I was describing sounded completely typical of anxiety disorders, and referred me for cognitive-behavioural therapy! I understand there tend to be long waiting lists, but it’s a start. In the mean time, she gave me some self-help materials – so I have a new goal. I need to start following some of these self-help ideas, and get a head start on things.

Now I seem to be safely over fingernail biting, I need to sort this out. I don’t even know when I started, but I bite the skin alongside my fingernails. Every time there’s a little loose bit, I have to bite it – it drives me nuts to find them not feeling smooth. Of course, biting just causes them to be all rough, so it’s endless. It’s very frustrating, as I sometimes end up with sore fingers, and it really doesn’t look very nice, even though it’s generally not hugely noticeable. I have a really hard time stopping myself, as I just seem to do this without even thinking or realising it’s happening.

I had many false starts in trying to stop biting my nails – sometimes I’d stop for a couple of weeks, or a couple of months, then lapse back into it. But I think I’ve done it for good now – it’s been months! My nails are now stronger than they have been for years, and I find it gets easier and easier not to bite them as time goes on.

My method was to get nail strengthening lotions and polishes, and always keep files nearby. I tended to start biting again if a nail got rough or partially broke, so making it less likely to happen, and having other ways to deal with it when it did happen, really helped. I found that for a good while I became a bit obsessive about filing my nails perfectly and so on, but that seems to have tapered off, too. And it was still better than biting them!