Psychologists turn their mind to understanding just about every human behaviour there is — so understanding nail-biting seems a reasonable endeavour. We are not talking about people who occasionally nibble nails, but those who bite them to the point of pain. This has been included in DSM-5 as excoriation disorder.
Sigmund Freud explained nail-biting as a fixation during the oral stage of psychosexual development. A child who is frustrated at this stage of development may become fixated on the mouth and might seek more oral gratification though nail-biting. Other psychodynamic psychologists have suggested nail-biting may be due to inward hostility as it is a form of self-mutilation.
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