Oral fixation. What causes it? Is there a cure?!
Question: I sucked my thumb til I was 11, I have been biting my nails my whole life (I'm 30), I always have to have something in my mouth, gum, straw, drink, cigarette, nails, food (i'm not overweight). Its always been this way...doesnt matter if I'm nervous or not. Why is this? Was I taken off the bottle/breast too soon?
My sisters are similar but I'm the worst. Thank you!
(Please no immature/pervy answers.)
Answers: I have the same issue.
As I type this I'm currently smoking a cigarette, not because I feel like a cigarette, it is just something to stick in my mouth. If its not cigarettes, its food(when not hungry), or a bottle(when not thirsty)...or something.
In my case this certainly isn't due to being off bottle or breast too soon(I know I wasn't), or other 'parent issues' - my parents were always there for me. The only issue I've ever had with them is they totally don't understand my bipolar disoder (they try to understand, they just can't).
So, I have no idea what causes this. Anxiety and boredom can make me worse, but like you, even if I'm not nervous it still happens.
This might sound really silly, but one thing that really helped me was getting my tongue pierced. Most people can't tell you why their pierced their tongue. I did it because its something in my mouth & I can play with it without people even knowing.
I still end up smoking even when I don't want a smoke, and eating when not hungry, but my tongue stud has definitely helped a lot. I haven't bitten my nails for years now.
Before the tongue stud(which was about 10 yrs ago), the only thing that helped was chewing gum & lollypops. I used to go through an unnatural amount of them!
Hope this helps. There are certainly worse things in life than an oral fixation, though.