Hypnotherapy for nail biting

Nail biting may not seem like a big deal in itself, but it can still be very annoying. Fortunately, you can do a lot against nail biting with hypnotherapy. This will help you regain beautiful, normal or even long nails. You won't have to hide your hands in your pockets anymore

Nearly 30% of all people suffer from nail biting. This does not only affect your nails. In fact, it also has a negative effect on your teeth. For some people, it can cause more psychological problems and lowers quality of life[1].

Causes of nail biting

To stop nail biting, it is important to address its causes. Those causes can be different for everyone. Children and adults can nail bite and this can be due to anything. For example, you may unconsciously imitate a family member, such as your father or mother.

In addition, it may also be due to certain fears, stress, loneliness, switching from thumb-sucking to nail-biting, inactivity, or simply poorly maintained nails[2].

A link has also been established between impulsivity and self-confidence based on what you think other people think of you[3].

Stop nail biting

Many people who want to stop nail biting use nail polish that tastes dirty or the environment wants you to stop and is going to punish you or nag you about it.

This often doesn't help if this has become a way for you to deal with anxiety or stress, as this actually only brings you more of it.

The key to success is that you want to stop nail biting yourself and that you have agreed to the chosen strategy[4].

Stop nail biting by replacing it

Simply quitting a bad habit is incredibly difficult. It often leaves a void in how you deal with certain things or even in your daily routines. That’s why it can be more effective to replace nail-biting with another good habit. This works better for truly quitting[5].

This is something you can do with hypnotherapy. You can receive a posthypnotic suggestion —a suggestion that influences your behavior after the hypnotherapy session.

For example, you can replace nail biting with a healthier habit, such as drinking more water.

Then you get post-hypnotic suggestion, for example:

"From this moment forward: every time you get the urge to bite your nails drink a sip of water."

Because you are in hypnosis, this is more quickly absorbed into your subconscious and you will therefore be able to do this more easily than if you had to consciously think each time that you had better take a sip of water.

Hypnosis to find out why you nail bite

Still, is replacing the behavior too difficult? Then you can use hypnosis to figure out why you nail bite. Are you doing it because you copied your parents? Does it have to do with things that stress or anxiety you out?

One technique that can be used is regression. With regression, you go back to the first moment in your life when nail-biting suddenly became something positive—when nail-biting was a solution to something for you.

You will be put into hypnosis and asked to go back to the first moment when nail biting felt like something convenient. Because you are in hypnosis, a memory will then reveal itself to you.

You tell this to the hypnotherapist, who will then help you reinterpret this moment with your imagination. For example, you can empathize with other people or have your adult self talk to your younger self about nail biting.

You change the information associated with the memory and belief with this, making stopping nail biting easier to resolve than if you stopped consciously.

After regression, you can then still get the post-hypnotic suggestion to drink water instead of biting your nails.

Hypnosis for improving your self-confidence

Self-confidence based on your idea of how other people see you is a risk for nail-biting. It is more convenient if your self-confidence is based on what you think of yourself, rather than what you think other people think of you. This is not something you can ever be sure of anyway.

With hypnosis, you can shift the focus from other people's opinions of you to your own. This can be done in a variety of ways. One way is to have a socratic conversation about why you care about other people's opinions. This helps you find a foundation on which to install new beliefs about self-esteem.

This can be done, for example, with repeating affirmations. Which affirmations these are is different for everyone, because everyone has their own view of life and how they operate in it.

They can include affirmations such as:

"If I feel good, it's good enough."

"I am the only one who sees this movie, so I make it fun for me."

"Most importantly, I am happy with myself."

These are just examples, depending on the beliefs that define your self-confidence you may be given other suggestions.

In addition, hypnosis can cause you to find yourself a more interesting person. You feel more complex and positive as a person through hypnotherapy[6].

This is done, for example, by linking a memory about when you felt good to what you will do in the future. For example, you are encouraged to do mostly things that make you feel good, and you are encouraged to feel how such an experience causes you to stay positive.

Improving the basics of your self-confidence can lower the risk of nail biting and thus can also help stop nail biting.

Hypnosis for coping with anxiety

Nail-biting can also be a reaction to anxiety. In that case, something other than nail-biting is needed to calm the anxiety caused by the situation. An alternative technique might be to practice mindfulness meditation for a moment. Take a few deep breaths, relax your muscles, and focus your attention on the here and now, rather than on an anxious thought.

In addition, you can sometimes link anxiety to self-confidence. Improving self-confidence can then help reduce anxiety.

Another way to reduce anxiety is to confront it. This can be done with a guided visualization. In that visualization you confront the fear, but immediately get the feeling that, on the contrary, everything is going well. Your fear does not come out, so to speak. People accept you as you are, you can do what you fear very well. You also get suggestions that help you stay calm in fearful situations (such as mindfulness techniques).

Fear of failure is a fear that can cause you to nail it, such as right before a test or while you are studying for it. This is a fear that is well treatable with hypnosis.

So if fear is the reason for nail biting, it may be helpful to find out exactly what fear is causing it. Is it fear of a particular activity? Fear of social reactions or of the consequences of something?

One way to find out is with a socratic conversation. First, you will be asked, "Why are you a nail biter?" Then you will be asked further questions on each answer to get to the heart of your problem.

Then the hypnotherapist can help you with the technique that best suits your situation to overcome the fear and thereby stop nail biting.

Hypnosis against nail biting

So hypnosis can help against nail biting in multiple ways. Nail biting often turns out to be a little more complex than "I just bite my nails" after all. With hypnosis, you can easily dissect that complexity to find a simple solution.

Hypnotherapy can help to more easily replace nail biting for a healthier habit. In addition, hypnosis can help identify and eliminate the causes of nail biting.

This often solves even more than nail biting per se, which in turn makes your life a lot easier.

Do you want to stop biting your nails? Then click here to find a hypnotherapist near you.

Would you like to help your child or someone close to you stop biting their nails? Then join the free online masterclass on hypnosis.

Or enroll directly in one of our training courses. Ideal for coaches, psychologists and people who want to help people.

[1] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546634.2016.1200711

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889540608000048

[3] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0183806

[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889540608000048

[5] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40617-016-0106-3

[6] https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/3737920/hypnosis_in_australianov97.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3(p. 61)