5 Reasons Caring for Your Body Supports BFRB Recovery
Improving awareness, reducing urges, and enabling recovery for BFRBs.
Posted August 19, 2025 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan
When you're living with a body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB), such as hair pulling, skin picking, or nail biting, it’s easy to focus only on the behavior itself.
Taking care of the body is not just “self-care.” It’s an essential, evidence-informed component of treatment and recovery. Here’s why:
1. Body awareness helps you catch the behavior before it happens
For many people, BFRBs often happen outside of conscious awareness. Developing mindful attention to the body through attention to the breath, gentle movement, or mindfulness practices can help people more easily notice early warning signs (e.g., muscle tension, specific hand movements, restlessness) and intervene before the behavior cycle is triggered.
2. A regulated body supports a regulated brain
When you don’t get enough sleep, don’t provide yourself with good nutrition , don’t move your body enough, or are feeling tense or physically uncomfortable, your nervous system is more likely to go into overdrive. And when that happens, BFRB urges can intensify and your ability to ride those urges can be compromised. Simple things like staying hydrated, eating healthfully, getting rest, and moving your body can help keep your system steady and help make urges easier to manage.
3. Soothing the senses
Many individuals with BFRBs experience heightened sensitivity to physical sensations or a need for sensory stimulation. BFRBs can then serve the function of attempts to self-regulate or respond to sensory discomfort. Supporting the body through sensory strategies (e.g., fidget tools, weighted blankets, textured fabrics, calming scents) can provide alternative ways to meet sensory needs without causing harm. It’s important to note that these strategies are frequently insufficient on their own, but can be some of the helpful tools in your toolbox of strategies.
4. Take care of your physical health, too
Sometimes, experiences such as hormonal changes, headaches, illness, or chronic pain can increase BFRB symptoms and deplete our ability to intervene effectively and resist BFRB urges. If you’re noticing an increase in symptoms, it may be useful to examine your physical health. Managing your overall health, whether that’s treating pain, supporting hormone balance, or seeing a doctor when needed, can help reduce triggers.
5. Daily habits can directly affect BFRB triggers
Small, everyday choices can either feed into urges or help reduce them. Consider some of the following daily practices to care for your body and your BFRB:
BFRB recovery involves treating your body with care, giving it what it needs, and creating conditions that help you feel more comfortable in your own skin. When you care for your body, you support your healing.
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Marla Deibler, Psy.D., ABPP , is a clinical psychologist and founder of The Center for Emotional Health of Greater Philadelphia.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.