I've done it again....I've bitten off all of my fingernails. How can I stop myself? I used to do it constantly, starting about 5 years old, then I stopped at 29, and now sometimes, for seemingly no reason, I do it agian, maybe three times per year! It's disgusting!

Any suggestions? Not nail-biting suggestions, but just this compulsive stuff in general.

Ugh!

You can give yourself manicures...:) so that your nails are pretty and you won't want to bite them....

Find ways to channel energy of compulsions: run around block, walk, get on the phone, ride your back, get on computer, write in your journal, sing, deliver food to the homeless, watch a little T.V., grab some celery sticks and start munching, take a bath, take a shower, clean a room of your house, go to the mall and browse, check out a movie.

Thanks Joan:) I went running, and am now working on the computer and munching. I think my nails are toast for now. I think having a nice manicure would help:) Maybe I need to pamper myself a little;)

Do you have any quirky compulsions? I also get stuck in the mirror picking at my face. Is that ADD or just insanity?

Boy, I complain about stuff a lot, huh? Maybe I'd better take a look at that!

Quirky compulsions? Me? YUP! I was just at a Calif. Dietetics Association meeting...and there was dinner served and all...and a speaker...and I find that when I'm needing to listen to something real attentively, I HAVE to have something in my hand to play with....like I'll fold a piece of paper ten millions times while listening to a speaker, for example. And I don't even know I'm doing it...it's like I need CONSTANT movement even when sitting...my hands HAVE to be doing something...and I watch people around me and they're ALL sitting still.

Eating in the middle of the night....another compulsion

Talking to myself....in the car....I can't stand the silence sometimes.

Leaving the house in the morning before I'm even ready....i.e. I haven't combed my hair but I'm so anxious to leave (get breakfast?) that I leave before I'm ready...

Quirky enough?

Picking face? Maybe ADD....???

You are so funny:) I'm picturing you leaving your house in the morning:) Too cute!

Thanks Joan.

Yup, did it again this morning....left and forgot to take my meds...or take them with me....DARN.....I had to drive home and get them....:( What a pain....I hate when I compulsively leave the house....without thinking if I've done everything I need to do to get ready....or without making sure I've got everything with me that I need....

Oh, me too. I can't tell you how much I love hearing that other people do the same crazy things I do!

:)

I don't know what to say in the way of an idea to stop.

I wanted to tell Joan I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one with the weird napkin folding habit ...lol.... I do those other things you do to Joan ...lol.. :D

Paula

Yup fasttalking....I just CAN'T leave the napkins alone...I mean I had eaten enough and my plate still had food on it..and I was FULL...so wanted to stop eating which is good.....but I needed to keep my hands busy....since they werent' busy putting food in my mouth with fork!

Yes it's nice we're not alone...:)

Go to a beauty college for a manicure, real cheap. As for leaving the house, I have a hard time getting out the door ! I start to leave then think of something I forgot , about 10 times I go out the door and go back in.

Hey, a beauty college is a great idea, thanks! Yeah, I think I get most of my exercise forgetting things upstairs and when I leave the house:)

For biting nails, I do the same thing......the thing tha works is to have the fake ones put on....gell, acrylic or solar, you can't bite them they are to hard.

Since I tourettes, I have a compulsive tic..............I hate to mention what it is, but I actually receive botox injections for it so that I don't have the sensation. My shots are due again on 6-19-03 and the problem has gotten worse since the shots are wearing off.

Oh, that must be so frustrating. Can you have your shots closer together?

I love this

When I do some of my stupid thing and my wife lets me know now I can show her im not alone

My problem is sometimes im so anxious to go and I have no where to go and when I need to be somewhere I cant get it together to go

And I dont need to worry bout combing my hair in the morning

I dont have enough to worry about so if I comb it once a month thats good enough for the whole month

Oh I should be so lucky....getting to comb my hair once a month????? oh my God...that's a joke.....