My father always bit his nails. When I mean bite, I mean bite it to the point where they're almost unrecognisable and sometimes to the point where they would bleed.

Apologies if it seemed a bit gross for some of you, but I have a similar issue. I'm not sure if it's intertwined with my anxiety and a mixture of "monkey see, monkey do", but it's been a problem I've been struggling with for many many years.

There's been periods of time where I have been able to control it. Those haven't been long lasting though (only a month tops). I've always found myself biting them more and more when I have felt like I lost control of a situation or when I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Does anyone have any tips on how to start battling this problem?

I did watch a video where he uses the idea of before you start putting the fingers in your mouth, simply say "No." "You're weak." "You're stronger than this." Or some variation thereof, to get the point across that it's not necessary. He posted a video afterwards suggesting that behaviour that precedes it, such as flicking your nails, etc should be stopped too (where you should straighten your fingers if you notice yourself doing it).