Obsession Compulsive Disorder

how can I stop cutting my finger nails, I do it every day, sometimes I spend hours doing it. I have been doing it for almost  seven months...Please help

[ggreg]

I had a few consuming obsessions like you.  The same methods I used should help you.  You go at your fingernail trimming from two angles.  First, and most important, you need a substitute for what you're doing now, which the most appropriate and quickest activity to produce would be to carry beads tied off on a string, like a neclace of plastic balls, or a wooden round ball bracelet, that sort of thing, like a Rosary.  Every time you want to cut your nails, distract yourself by fooling with those worry beads.  Second, you go a whole day without cutting your nails, then increase it to two days, then a week.  It's sort of like people who wash their hands constantly, if they go all day without washing them and find out they're not gonna be ruined, they can eventually cure themselves of the habit.  But the substitute distraction is needed so they can still get out their nervous tension in an acceptable way.

Also, I might suggest you please visit a psychiatrist, they can give you medicines that interrupt the obsessive part of your brain, until you can gain control over your behavior, AND the psych doc can talk with you for a couple weeks about how come you're up to doing this sort of thing or at least give you better tips on controlling your behavior.

I should add that people who quit smoking, they have more success when they do a few other things to support what they're up to, and I'll give you those, becuz some of them may be helpful as you try to stop a bad habit:  Write down a list of benefits of giving up cutting fingernails, consult it when you are tempted.  Pick a day to "begin" this adventure, and if you fail, pick another date...eventually one will stick.  Find something else you like to do, especially with your hands, for example plant some herbs for your kitchen window, take up knitting and put together some nice comforters for winter, learn to play guitar or another instrument you like by taking classes and practicing every time you want to cut your nails.  

And lastly, increase your exercise to relieve your overall stress and worry, which is coming out when you cut your nails... there are just so many other ways to spend your time that will make you a better person, be more beneficial to you in a more tangible way, and best of all, you won't have to deal with what I consider a pain in the neck:  fixing nails... SO annoying, hate doing myself.  My nails are a wreck!  But I can play the guitar!  Oh, and I think there's a psychiatric forum in here, should have some folks who suffer from OCD, or you can do a general search from the oval rectangle at the top middle of this page, where it says "search conditions, treaments..." and type in "OCD."