Biting one’s nails is a nasty habit, and even when the habit is broken, it can often be revived by stress. I’ve tried all sorts of things to stop myself doing this, with little success. Even when I have managed to briefly stop chewing them down to the knuckles, they have tended to split & tear – and end up being bitten off anyway.
But, finally, after far too many years I seem to have managed to cure myself of this, without even actually trying. Maybe that is the best way?
Many things in life can have unintended consequences – badly drafted legislation is particularly notorious for this – and those consequences are usually negative. Not so here. Let me tell you how.
Now that friends, family, and professional colleagues are aware of the existence of girl-mode alongside boy-mode, I’m not averse to slightly mixed modes. For example, a good set of acrylic nails takes some effort to install, and these days I can’t be bothered to remove them after every outing in girl-mode. So for the past many weeks, I’ve been removing them only when worn out – and then replacing them right away with a new set. With minor maintenance, they seem to last for around two weeks a set, depending partly upon how much lifting, DIY, bricklaying, and safecracking I’m doing.
The reactions I’ve had to this, somewhat to my surprise, have been exclusively positive one. A surprise but a pleasant one. Many waiters, bus drivers, shop assistants, and colleagues have commented that they like them. I find many more complete strangers talking to me than ever did before, a wide range of people. There is probably some sensible psychological reason for this; maybe by standing out as a bit of an individual it encourages others to interact?
The interesting side-effect of this is what has happened to my real nails underneath the acrylics:
I’ve not had good solid nails this long across all fingers & thumbs for… well… decades! It seems that the acrylic nails are not only preventing me from chewing my real nails, but also protecting them from knocks and stresses – allowing them to grow properly.
So if anyone else is having difficulty kicking the habit of nail-biting, then I can heartily recommend this mild form of body-decoration to assist you. Personally, at least for now, I’m going to keep this girl-mode feature as a constant fixture.
Sophie Baskerville 