Bite Your Nails? Pull Your Hair? Anxiety May Not Be to Blame! Find Out Why! by Mei Marcie

Mindfulness
6 years ago

Bite Your Nails? Pull Your Hair? Anxiety May Not Be to Blame! Find Out Why!

We typically associate behaviors like hair pulling, skin picking and nail biting with anxiety. An exploratory study suggests that such behaviors (known as body-focused repetitive behaviors or "BFRBs") may instead be linked to perfectionism.

Half of the participants in the study exhibited BFRBs and were also scored as organizational perfectionists, while the other half were part of a control group. The participants were shown various videos to elicit boredom, frustration, stress and relaxation. The BFRB group reported a significantly greater urge to engage in BFRBs, in particular when bored or frustrated, but not when stressed. 

The study was published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. Read more about this study via Scientific American.

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Elisa Schmitz
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing, Mei Marcie !
Renee
I know that this is not a recent tip but I am glad that it was shared. Many assume BFRBs are linked to OCD, anxiety, or that’s it’s just a bad habit. It is so much more though. My son has a very specific BFRB and I can’t begin to tell you how this has impacted him, me, and my family.
Ann Marie Patitucci
Renee Herren : I was going to make sure you saw this! Very interesting!
Cassiday
This is really interesting and impacts a lot of people I know

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