I have ADHD and this is the story of how I stopped biting my nails.
I used to bite my nails really badly until around 8th grade. I literally chewed every nail and every hangnail — I barely had any nails left at all. My fingers were constantly in my mouth, and sometimes they would even bleed.
Then I moved to a new city and started at a new school. After a while, I began noticing that people would look at my hands. My classmates paid attention to my nails, and it felt terrible. The worst part was when girls noticed them. I felt embarrassed and awkward, so I started hiding my hands whenever I could.
I finally decided that I had to do something about it. I started getting manicures because I thought they would help me stop. But honestly, it made things even worse. My nails became shiny and more noticeable, and I felt even more self-conscious in front of everyone at school.
I felt stuck.
That ended up becoming a turning point for me. I got tired of feeling embarrassed all the time. I stopped getting manicures, and for a short period I actually started biting my nails even more. But over time, something changed. Slowly, without really realizing it, I just stopped doing it.
Even now, I still sometimes chew hangnails.
So yeah — that’s my weird story about how I stopped biting my nails.
