Karp: Nailing a nasty nail-biting habit
 |  Karp sometimes bit his fingernails so much that they bled. This image shows his nails before the program. |
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 Jonathan Karp has bitten his nails his entire life. He joins Dr. Gupta's "New You Revolution" to kick the habit. (January 21)
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Name: Jonathan Karp
Age: 29
Hometown: Raritan, New Jersey
Profession: Solutions coordinator for a software company
Issues: For as long as Karp can remember, he has never had 10 perfect fingernails. He is a chronic nail biter and sometimes can't stop until he draws blood. If his fingers aren't in his mouth, he's most likely destroying his hands with scissors, pushpins, knives or various other office supplies. He has tried many times to stop, but never succeeded.
(CNN) -- Jonathan Karp is happy with his weight and his overall health. But he has a bad habit that millions of Americans share -- and hide.
Karp is a serial nail-biter.
His father also bit his nails, as does his brother. Karp says he's been doing it for as long as he can remember.
Now he has set about looking for help to stop hurting himself -- ideally, before his upcoming wedding -- by joining CNN's "New You Revolution." (Journal)
Karp says he knows nail-biting is an ugly habit and admits he has even had to hide his hands during business presentations.
But he can also find the humor in his bad habit. If nail-biting were an Olympic sport, he says, he would have won a gold medal. (E-mail Karp)
For motivation to quit, Karp looks to his fiancée, Erika. He sees the disappointment in her face when he demolishes his fingertips.
His dream is to have 10 perfect fingernails in time for her to slip a wedding ring over one of them.
While many people gnaw on their nails periodically, Karp's problem is far more extreme than the run-of-the-mill nail-biter.
He says that he will often chew his fingernails down to a nub -- and then keep going until he bleeds.
Long aware of the problem, Karp now recognizes that he can't stop on his own. So he's asking the "New You" team for help in breaking this bad habit.
