Don’t deny it. I know that you bite/have bitten your nails at one point in your life. It’s just an anxious/nervous habit, yes, correct, but it also has health issues associated with it, such as swelling, pus, and redness around your nails. However, as it turns out, it also indicates that… you’re a perfectionist, apparently.

According to a study done by the University of Montreal, people who are impatient or get bored very easily tend to focus more on body-centered actions, such as skin picking, nail biting or eyelash pulling (yes, even that).

Nail biting also indicates that someone may be a perfectionist, as biting the nail is supposed to represent a frustrated reaction to an imperfection, or a broken or chipped nail in this case.

We all know how fussy perfectionists are when it comes to achieving the things that they want, and making sure that all of that is absolutely perfect and exactly the way they imagined it to be. If it doesn’t go the way they want, they’ll turn to other actions as a way to relieve their frustration, and one of those actions is biting their nails.

The author of the study, Dr. Kieron O’Connor, who has a Ph. D. in Psychology, and is a full-time researcher and professor at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal (Institute of Mental Health of Montreal) sums up the nail biting behavior perfectly.
“We believe that individuals with these repetitive behaviors may be perfectionistic, meaning that they are unable to relax and to perform tasks at a normal pace,” Dr. O’Connor says in the research. “They are therefore prone to frustration, impatience, and dissatisfaction when they do not reach their goals.”

So, there you go, those of you who are reading this and you bite your nails an awful lot, it could just mean you’re a perfectionist. This is a hard habit to break, yes, that is true, but if you only do it from time to time, you won’t cause all that much harm, so don’t pressure yourself. If you do find yourself biting your nails every time you don’t do something perfectly, either quit doing that, or next time, do that thing absolutely perfectly, to avoid biting your nails. As hard as that may be, it’s for your own good.

If you have any words of wisdom to say regarding biting your nails, post them in the comments below.

Source: metdaan.com