Nail-biting, nail-picking and other compulsive habits are generally thought to be symptoms of anxiety. Whether the person who does them has an official medical diagnosis of anxiety or not, when we see someone chewing on their nails or picking their cuticles with their other fingers, we just assume that they’re preoccupied with something on their mind. The problem here is that this is an assumption – and assumptions are often wrong.
But science has shown that there is a lot more going on behind the “nervous” habit than simple anxiety. One study found that nail-biters often shared a personality trait that you probably weren’t expecting.
- Alexander Smith, American Web Media