Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful day. My name is J. Robert; I am a clinical hypnotherapist in private, remote practice. Nail biting is an issue that is very common for me to help people with and I wanted to give you all a few tips based on my work:

First of all, I want to make clear that all habits like this are a self-soothing behavior. From eating to smoking to nail biting, these behaviors are all something that, at some point, your subconscious mind came to recognize as soothing. Now, it doesn't matter if there is a negative conscious impact (ragged nails, etc) so long as the association exists in your mind that this thing helps you feel better.

You see, the subconscious mind operates on a different set of rules for what comfort and discomfort mean. For it, comfort is the familiar, the proven. As someone myself who used to bite their nails, I can remember the distraction and focus it provided me when I was stressed. Discomfort, on the other hand (no pun intended), is the unknown and unfamiliar. The unproven. To create change, the subconscious mind must change.

How to do that? While working with a professional is the most reliable way, I can give you some tips to help. There are times in the day in which your subconscious mind can be influenced; the most accessible time is in the morning, after waking. For 30 minutes or so after you wake up, you are in the trance state. This means that you are hyper suggestible.

Knowing that, I'd like everyone to do a little experiment for me... this week, each morning, I'd like you to take a bit of time when you wake to relax in bed and imagine yourself doing something you'd rather do than bite your nails. For me, it was playing with a pen or rolling a coin. Just think of something you'd rather do to process those thoughts and see yourself doing it. Keep this up and put a bit of effort into doing that thing instead. It won't be immediate and it will take some effort, but you will notice a shift begin to happen. Though this will not fix your issue, it will make it much less of an issue.

I hope you all found this helpful! I'd be happy to answer any questions you all may have.