Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Brain Eating Zombie of the Day

Tom Stafford - from Mind Hacks

Why do we bite our nails?
He writes a lot but doesn't say anything.  Certainly doesn't answer the question.
Nice job if you can get it, I guess.

We bite our nails because the strep bacteria in our mouth like to live there.
And for some of us... every time we bite them we infect the nail bed and every time we break the skin we get a nice shot of dopamine-agonist from our immune system. (and that's really helpful when writing...)

It's not a bad habit.  It's neurohacking.   One would think he might have thought of that...

Self-injury is the hallmark behavior of autoimmune OCD.

More ironically-
The actual urge seems to be triggered by overgrown cuticles.   We're addressing the wrong end.
Soak your nails in very dilute bleachy water.  (1Tbs to a pint of water)
Push back your cuticles.
File off all the pointy parts of your nails and fingertip skin so they will heal smoothly.
Moisturize.
Twice a week.