What do our bad habits say about us?

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Ever since school, have you gnawed on caps and every time you apologize to a colleague, "sharpening" her next pen? Or maybe you just can't cope with the urge to clean up all over the place, and you mechanically line up cosmetic jars in even rows on your friend's dressing table, and then meet her indignant gaze? Say what you like, but a habit is really second nature, and it can be very difficult to get rid of another “I” that interferes with a normal life. However, before you get rid of something, you need to understand the reasons for its appearance, says psychologist Oksana Alberti.

We repeat the same action every day, sometimes without realizing it. Often we come across the disapproval of others, we quarrel with loved ones, if the habits are very bad, for example, smoking or a passion for alcoholic beverages. But here's what's surprising: no matter how we try to get rid of them, habits don't go anywhere. In addition to spoiled relationships with relatives and friends, we also get inner discomfort that prevents us from living. “Most habits are signals from our subconscious. If you know how to read them, you can understand about a person even what he does not understand about himself. You can also understand that he knows about himself, how he lived and lives, how he built himself. This requires desire, attention and a little knowledge,”says the psychologist. That is why we took up a very interesting, but difficult task - to find out what these or those bad habits say about us.

The habit of biting your nails

Needless to say, a person with gnawed nails looks repulsive? For many men, neat female fingers are a fetish, and therefore you should not count on increased attention to your person if instead of nails you only have something vaguely reminiscent of them. “The habit of biting your nails speaks of internal tension, of unconscious anxiety. As a rule, it is associated with low self-esteem, lack of self-love. In addition, by chewing on our hands and making them ugly, we unconsciously punish ourselves for not being worthy of love,”the expert comments.

The habit of gnawing on the cap of the pen

Firstly, every time you bring the pen to your mouth, remember that it can be dirty, and then you will have problems not only on the psychological, but also on the physiological level. And secondly, this habit is likely to negatively affect your reputation at work. Oksana Alberti is sure that a person gnawing a pen is perceived by others as an unbalanced type: “This habit speaks of the inner anxiety and tension of its owner. And one more thing: as you know, any elongated oblong object in our unconscious is a phallic symbol. The habit of constantly sucking or gnawing on something like this is an unconscious way to take pleasure through the mouth (oral). This may indicate a high degree of subconscious concentration on erotic pleasures."

The habit of dirtying the pen cap is likely to negatively affect your reputation at work.

Smoking and alcohol addiction

According to the psychologist, the role of physiological dependence in this case is very exaggerated, and talking about physiology is just a way to justify our own unwillingness to give up addictions: “Smoking and alcohol give us additional pleasure, give us a feeling of an influx of energy, shake our feelings. They also play the role of some psychological "pain relievers". People who are engaged in active intellectual activity often smoke - they need it in order to slow down the actively working consciousness."

Overeating habit

Unfortunately, some people cannot stop on time not only with alcohol, but also with food. They eat until the button on their jeans flies off with a bang and until they feel sick. As a result - excess weight, dissatisfaction with oneself and an uncontrollable desire to seize the grief that she herself has created. “The root of most of our bad habits is the desire for extra pleasure. Food is an intense pleasure. In addition, in our subconscious, food and sex are very similar in sensations. When we lack love, we try to compensate for it with sex. When there is not enough love and sex, we compensate with food,”explains Oksana Alberti.

Fanatical love of order

Such people are called sissies - they put things in order everywhere, and even where they are not asked to do so. This is sometimes really annoying to others, since this behavior takes the form of mania, and not a healthy craving for cleanliness. “This habit speaks of a person's longing for the ideal, and it can prevent you from feeling comfortable if someone violates your ideal order. The more you want to keep something perfect, the more often it will be violated, because the perfect does not exist in the world. And the stronger your desire, the more trauma it will be for you to violate this ideal. For example, you will constantly quarrel with those who shift things on your desk, and you will become simply unbearable for your colleagues,”the expert comments.

The habit of asking again

Surely you sometimes ask your interlocutor for the end of the phrase, although you heard it perfectly. Many are interested in why this is happening. Oksana Alberti replies: “Most likely, I mean echolalia - uncontrollable repetition of the last phrase heard. This phenomenon in adults may be a symptom of developing schizophrenia or other mental illnesses. In this case, it is better to consult a specialist."

The habit of picking something

If you are haunted by a healing wound, nail polish, a pimple that has appeared and you certainly want to pick them out, then most likely you need to work on achieving inner harmony. “This habit is akin to nail biting - it speaks of anxiety, dissatisfaction. Also about subconscious idealism - I want everything to be somehow perfect, but most importantly - not the way it is now. For example, you touch non-dried nail polish - this is a subconscious desire for it to dry as quickly and quickly as possible to make you perfectly beautiful. The same is with the sore - it speaks of a constant inner rush,”explains the psychologist.

According to Oksana Alberti's observations, men are more likely to crunch their knuckles than women.

The habit of crunching your fingers

According to Oksana Alberti's observations, men crunch more often with their finger joints than women. "Such a habit speaks of inner self-doubt," adds the psychologist.

The habit of biting the cheeks and lips

Those who constantly bite their cheeks from the inside and lips are familiar with the problem of the appearance of unpleasant sores in the mouth, but this is not the only difficulty, the psychologist says. “The mouth is a place through which we receive many sensual pleasures, not only from delicious food, but also from erotic ones. Unconscious self-harm in the area of the mouth is a punishment for oneself for excessive inner orientation towards these pleasures."

The habit of tearing off labels

Previously, those who constantly tore off labels from everywhere (from packages of shampoo, jars of cream and various pickles), they said that they lacked sex, but Oksana Alberti has a different opinion on this matter: “And again we are talking about idealism and perfectionism … In our subconsciousness, a smooth and clean surface looks more perfect."