Nail-Biting Fears

[MyraJ]

My daughter is a chronic nail-biter but insists that nail polish be on her nails at all time.  Every time she bites off the nail polish, she must re-apply a new coat.  She told me that her nails feel weird when they are fully exposed.
Could this be a form of OCD or just an unusual habit?

[3rdchild]

Hi, How old is your daughter?  Does she have any other unusual habits?  I have ocd myself and believe my kids may have it....although the doctors will say that unless it's disrupting a person's life and causing grief it's probably not ocd.  If you go to Yahoo groups and join one of the Ocd groups for parents or adults you could ask this same question and get some really good feedback.  They could explain it to you and give you advice.  There are even doctors in some of the groups that will answer questions, similiar to some of these message boards.
Let me know if you have any questions.

[MyraJ]

My daughter is 12 and as far as I know that is her only habit that strikes me as unusual.  Thanks for the feedback, I will certainly check out the Yahoo forums.

[Wisconsin_StepMommy]

Well yeah, it does feel weird.  Have you ever painted your nails with coats and coats of paint then peeled a strip off?  It feels weird.  What I suggest is you take the polish off completely.  Leave it off for a while.  After a while it will feel normal again.  As for the nail biting, adults bite their nails.  It's common.  Put something that tastes gross on her fingernails, I'm sure there is something out their you can think of.  This should break it soon.  It's like pavlovs dogs.  Your daughter doesn't have any problems.  Good luck with this!