The story of a bipolar bear.: Do you have nervous habits that you just can't break?

goodmentalhealth:

Do you bite your nails without realizing it?
Do you constantly notice only the negative side of everything, without acknowledging any positive?
Do you pick scabs, scratch your scalp, play with your rings or necklace, or have any other fidgety habits?

Often these nervous…

I had a terrible nail biting problem for the majority of my life. I stopped biting my nails during my entire freshman year of college, and I do not remember exactly how I did it at that time. I started biting them again during my sophomore year and continued until some point this summer. I think part of what helped this summer was the fact that I was required to use my hands constantly at work (I work at the library, so I was shelving books, putting shelves together, taking shelves down and much, much more. During this semester I had a relapse that lasted for about a week and a half as my anxiety started to creep up on me. Then, I got myself back on track by doing another thing that I did this summer: cut my nails short, AND then file them. I end up biting my nails when feeling anxious partly because I want to make my nails smooth. It becomes a perfectionist tendency to ‘fix’ my nails. If I can catch it in time, then I am able to cut and file my nails before I start to bite them.

I also make sure that I take deep breaths when I start to feel anxious. And, if I can, I exercise or clean (or both). All of those things help. Hopefully I have kicked that habit for good!

Here are some articles from bp magazine about giving up bad habits, in case you are interested in reading more:

Your habit…Up in smoke

http://bphope.com/Item.aspx/486/body-brio-your-habitup-in-smoke 
—>This article is about getting rid of a cigarette smoking habit, but the tips at the end are still relevant

Bless that Stress
http://bphope.com/Item.aspx/485/mind-over-mood-bless-that-stress
—>This article is about finding the balance between a good amount of stress and a bad amount of stress, in addition to what you can do about it. Since stress is the source of many/most nervous habits, it might be good to check out!