Millions of people around the world suffer from a self-mutilating and often painful addiction1 to biting their nails, which can be harder to quit than smoking cigarettes, but is often overlooked as a relatively2 benign3 habit.
全球数百万人爱咬指甲，这嗜好颇为“自残”，有些小痛苦，而且比吸烟还难戒掉，但经常被人们忽视，认为不过是一种相对没什么坏处的习惯。
Medical experts are now taking a closer look at the addiction and have
decided4 to change its classification from a
mere5 habit to a full-fledged
obsessive6-compulsive
disorder7.
The American Psychiatric Association is preparing to change the designation of nail biting from 'not otherwise classified,' to '
obsessive（强迫性的） compulsive disorder' in its upcoming issue of the Diagnostic and
Statistical8 Manual of Mental
Disorders9, NBC News reported.
Habits that are commonly associated with OCD include repetitive hand-washing and hair-pulling. The disease is characterized by
unreasonable10 thoughts and fears that lead to such repetitive behaviors.
The occasional chewed nail isn't an indication of the disorder, medical experts assure.
'As with hair pulling and skin picking, nail biting isn't a disorder unless it is
impairing11,
distressing12, and meets a certain clinical level of severity,' Carol Mathews, M.D., a
psychiatrist13 at the University of California, San Francisco, told NBC News.
'That is not the vast majority of nail bitters,' she said.
Nail chewing is considered severe when the habit becomes destructive – when it
impairs14 use of the hands or leads to repeated infections.
Sometimes a nail-biter's hands and fingers can become infected, but more often, the habit leads to an increased risk of contracting colds and other illnesses because it encourages the spread of germs from the nails to the lips and mouth.
Nail biters looking to quit their addiction may find they are less inclined to stick their fingers in their mouths if they put lemon juice or hot sauce on their
digits15.
Former nail biters who quit the habit said it also helps to wrap nails in tape or Band-Aids and to keep their hands well-manicured.
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