Nail picking or biting in children could be linked to a stress-related syndrome resulting from peer bullying and authoritarian parenting, a doctor said.
Many cases of onychophagy (nail biting) and onychotillomania (nail picking) are related to stress, dermatologist Ko Shih-chung (柯適中) said.
If a child has been bullied at school, or subjected to extreme exam pressure or strict parenting, then they are likely to absently bite their nails or pick at them, Ko said.
Many parents take children with extremely short nails and inflamed skin to a doctor, fearing they may have a microbial or fungal infection, Ko said.
In one case, a boy stood timidly next to his mother, so Ko said he asked whether the mother and father had high expectations for their son, or whether he had to deal with peer pressure, Ko said.
“I tried to communicate to the mother that strict parenting can cause nail biting, but to no avail,” Ko said. “I found the mother yelling at the boy and punishing him right afterward, because he had made a simple mistake at the pharmacy counter — and then the boy started picking his nails again.”
In another case, a junior-high girl had chronic paronychia — when a tender infection forms where the nail and skin meet at the side or base of a fingernail — because she constantly picked at her nails and bit them as a way of coping with exam pressure, he said.
Some children compulsively pull their hair, Ko said, adding that he once treated a seven-year-old girl raised by her grandparents who frequently pulled her hair to cope with loneliness.
“It was only when an area on her head became bald that the girl was taken to a doctor,” he said. “She had to be referred to the department of child and adolescent psychiatry for further treatment.”
Medication can heal the infections caused by nail biting, but it is crucial to address the stress that leads to the behavior, Ko said.
A person who stops picking their nails or biting them can develop healthy nails within six months, he said.
However, when a child also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder or Tourette syndrome, they might require consultations with a psychiatrist, Ko said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS