Why do people bite there nails

[karenkpc]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_people_bite_their_nails

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, "Nail biting is the habit of biting one's fingernails or toenails during periods of nervousness, stress, hunger, or boredom. It can also be a sign of mental or emotional disorder. According to Freudian theory, nail biting a symptom of oral fixation. The clinical name for nail biting is chronic onychophagia."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_biting

the thing that scared me out of doing it was the germ factor.  amazing what lives under them there nails 

[sgluckadoo]

Nervous tic??? ORal fixation??

[shanked]

Mostly when i do it to myself  :- i dont even notice it, even when im really relaxed. Its just a thing i do to keep my hands busy i guess

[articx]

I use to bite my nails but I am not sure why I did. It had nothing to do with being under stress. That was a long time ago and I no longer do it.

[girlswin2]

My mother says it better than stress eating!!  Or its the closest thing to around that want add pounds to ya.

[paintballhound]

Because they are too lazy to file them or clip them.

Now that is just a horrible thing to say and very untrue. I personally bite my nails but I do also try to keep them filed. When I bite my nails it's not because I'm lazy and don't FEEL like filing them down it's simply because of nerves. I can file my nails down to where there are barely anything left and I'll just start to bite at the cuticle instead.

[fastbrett]

When there are no tools primal nature takes over, hang nails suck... not as much as having nails that grow so far out that they flip up, if that's ever happened to you, you'll remember it.  When I get nervous I bite my lip.   

[Tonaybelle]

I used to bite my nails. It was mostly alot of pent up stress. As I got older I found better was to relieve my stress. Still a work in progress though