Skin Biting

[this_portrait]

So. I've had this problem since around middle school with chewing the skin off of my fingers, often to the point of bleeding. My therapist said it's an OCD reaction to my anxiety, which I'll believe, because I often find myself doing it when I'm nervous.

I went to a hypnotist during my senior year of high school and was able to stop doing it for a while, until sometime during the summer before college. I started doing it again, though not all the time, and not as bad as I did before I got hypnotized.

Lately, though, I haven't been doing it at all. I think part of it is because of that nasty swine flu, since a student at my school caught it, and there are some people around my hometown who also have it. The other part is that I sort of made a committment to stop it completely once my cat got put to sleep this past early Friday morning. I know that probably sounds a little weird, but after watching a disease (kidney failure) deteriorate my cat (who I was really close to), I got fed up entirely and decided it's time to quit it for good. I haven't done it for almost a week now.

I don't know if, after the swine flu scare, I'll go back to it. Hopefully by then my fingers will be healed up enough and I'll be so used to not doing it that I won't even think about it.

I can only hope.

 

[pandamonium77]

i do it too
its so gross, but i do it because i dont have any nails to bite
lol, i wish i could stop but i cant

 

[this_portrait]

What's weird about it is that I don't bite my nails (I used to when I was a kid for a little bit, but then I stopped). My nails look perfect, but then around them would just look really ugly.

 

[Psychedelicious]

I ♥ biting

I bite bite bite my nails, then since my nails are so short, I bite bite bite my skin. I do this practically every day. Sometimes I do it so bad, where a little piece of skin is just bothering me and I will keep biting it off, well more like ripping it off. It keeps leaving other little pieces to rip off though, so I will just keep ripping it off until there is nothing left hanging there. By then the whole top of my finger is saturated in blood. I know, it's quite lovely. I bite and pull out EVERYTHING - to like an extreme level, except for the top of my head of course.

I don't know why you are relating it to all these other seemingly random things that don't particularly have anything to do with this. It's kind of interesting though. Maybe it's just your way of distracting it, or an odd way of showing yourself why this is a bad idea. Whatever it is, I hope it works for you. I should probably stop too, but I just don't care enough.

 

[Ashiene]

i like to peel the skin from my lips

 

[this_portrait]

i like to peel the skin from my lips

I do that when I'm trying to not bite my fingers.

 

[durda_dan]

I BITE UNTIL I BLEED. oops sorry cap lock my fingers always bleed.

 

[lurknomore]

I used to bite the skin around my finger nails a lot (never have done the nail biting thing, not sure why), and I still do sometimes if there is a loose piece of skin. Mostly I'm a lip biter though- often to the point of bleeding too. Not really sure if it is stress or anxiety related though- I've done it since I was probably 13 or so, and I do it pretty much all the time without even thinking about it.

 

[social_phobia2008]

I used to bite my lips since i was a little boy..and i still do that...guess i do it out of boredom...when i have nothing to do.

It seems to irrritate others ) but i dont care...i like peeling my lips.

 

[pandamonium77]

Ewww i just got out of the shower and i looked at my chewed fingers
gross ._., i need to stop doing it
I also "peel" my lips

 

[Rodox]

Have you ever tried chewing gum?
I used to bite my lips all the time in crowded,social places and then I started chewing gum,I stopped doing that,the only problem is I got addicted to gum .

 

[pandamonium77]

I dont like gum... and you cant chew gum in class
So im stuck with the lips and finger biting

 

[princess_haru]

I bite and peel my lips too - sometimes even when I'm talking to people! They look at me pretty strangely when I do that... ::

 

[jennismortal]

I never realised how fast they start to heal because I never gave them the chance. The skin’s already stopped being red, and little dry bits of skin are starting to cover the surface (which would normally drive me insane, but I’m sustaining).

 

[this_portrait]

I never realised how fast they start to heal because I never gave them the chance. The skin’s already stopped being red, and little dry bits of skin are starting to cover the surface (which would normally drive me insane, but I’m sustaining).

Yeah, I know. I don't even seem to do it anymore hardly at all, and if I do, I don't even come close to bleeding.

I'm rather surprised at myself.

 

[jennismortal]

I really agree....Nail biting can be more than just a bad habit. It can be the result of a faulty cingulate system in the brain.

 

[this_portrait]

I really agree....Nail biting can be more than just a bad habit. It can be the result of a faulty cingulate system in the brain.

I've never had much of a problem with nail biting. When I was in grade school, a lot of the other girls in my class would get jealous of me because my nails were always nice and long while theirs were all bitten down to the fingers.

One of my mom's co-workers bites her nails so much that she doesn't even have any left (though it's suspected that this is a result from her being molested by her father as a child).

 

[Animelovedoll]

I have a problem with my skin biting... I don't know whats wrong with me!!! I don't know what to do!! Every time I'm stressed I find myself chewing away at my finger tips... I looked it up the other day and found that it was the mild symptoms OCD... I found some other symptoms of it and I count my steps, I go the same places and take the same routes to the places at school EVERYDAY!!! I found on impulse I eat from the same line everyday and I have times I talk and when I don't... I think I should see a doctor, but I'm not sure... What should I do?

 

[Animelovedoll]

I have a problem with my skin biting... I don't know whats wrong with me!!! I don't know what to do!! Every time I'm stressed I find myself chewing away at my finger tips... I looked it up the other day and found that it was the mild symptoms OCD... I found some other symptoms of it and I count my steps, I go the same places and take the same routes to the places at school EVERYDAY!!! I found on impulse I eat from the same line everyday and I have times I talk and when I don't I think I should see a doctor, but I'm not sure... What should I do?

 

[Noca]

i like to peel the skin from my lips

i do that too