愛咬指甲是強迫症 Nail biting is more than a bad habit

Millions of people around the world suffer from a self-mutilating and often painful addiction to biting their nails, which can be harder to quit than smoking cigarettes, but is often overlooked as a relatively benign habit.

全球數百萬人愛咬指甲，這嗜好頗爲“自殘”，有些小痛苦，而且比吸菸還難戒掉，但經常被人們忽視，認爲不過是一種相對沒什麼壞處的習慣。

Medical experts are now taking a closer look at the addiction and have decided to change its classification from a mere habit to a full-fledged obsessive-compulsive disorder.

醫學專家目前正對此進行進一步研究，而且已經決定將其從一種習慣劃分到強迫症。

The American Psychiatric Association is preparing to change the designation of nail biting from ‘not otherwise classified,’ to ‘obsessive compulsive disorder’ in its upcoming issue of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, NBC News reported.

據美國國家廣播公司報道，美國精神病學會正準備在下期《診斷和統計手冊》中將“咬甲癖”的名稱從“無其他分類”改爲“強迫症”。

Habits that are commonly associated with OCD include repetitive hand-washing and hair-pulling. The disease is characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears that lead to such repetitive behaviors.

與強迫症有關的習慣包括反覆洗手和抓頭髮，通常以過度思考和恐懼而導致重複同一種行爲爲特點。

The occasional chewed nail isn’t an indication of the disorder, medical experts assure.

醫學專家明確說，偶爾咬指甲不代表患上強迫症。

‘As with hair pulling and skin picking, nail biting isn't a disorder unless it is impairing, distressing, and meets a certain clinical level of severity,’ Carol Mathews, M.D., a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, told NBC News.

美國舊金山加州大學精神病專家、醫學博士卡羅-馬修斯告訴美國全國廣播公司：“和抓頭髮與抓撓皮膚一樣，咬指甲在造成一定的損害，給人帶來煩惱，並在臨牀上達到一定的嚴重程度時纔會劃分爲強迫症。”

‘That is not the vast majority of nail bitters,’ she said.

她說：“而大多數愛咬指甲的人都到不了這個程度。”

Nail chewing is considered severe when the habit becomes destructive – when it impairs use of the hands or leads to repeated infections.

當咬指甲的習慣具有破壞性時，我們纔會考慮情況很嚴重了，也就是當它影響到了手的使用，或者導致反覆感染。

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.

在有些時候，有咬甲癖的人的手和手指會感染，但這種習慣在更多情況下會增加人們患上感冒和其他疾病的風險，因爲這增大了細菌從指甲中傳染到嘴脣和嘴裏的機率。

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 digits.

想要戒掉咬甲癖的人們可能會發現，如果在手指上塗上檸檬汁或者辣椒醬，就不太會咬指甲了。

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.

戒掉咬甲癖的人說，在手上纏膠帶或者創可貼也很有幫助，要保持精心修正的手型。