Tense situations call for nail biting, be it the world cup, the board exam results or maybe the final seconds of a lottery showdown. But if you find yourself biting nails all the time you may be suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder.
Nail-biting has been classified as a type of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in their upcoming edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
According to Wikipedia, People with obsessive compulsive disorder are known to produce repetitive behaviours aimed at reducing anxiety.
Other habits like hair-pulling and skin-picking — habits of “pathological grooming”– will also be included in the OCD classification, as reported by news.com.au
The DSM-V is the known ‘Bible of psychiatrists’ and is used by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and even policy makers.
A word of advice for the nail biters then — choose nail cutters over your teeth to stay in the sane category.