Biting your lip is the universal body language for yearning, whether that’s for another person, or a juicy burger. Alternatively—and less sensually—lip biting can also indicate anxiety, anticipation, boredom, or nerves. And in extreme cases, where a person finds themself biting their lip so often that it results in sores and interferes with their life, it can even fall under the category of a “body focused repetitive behavior” (BFRB).
“In general [a BFRB] is a habit, like fingernail biting, hair pulling, or skin picking, but for it to be meet the criteria to be a disorder, it means that it has to cause some impairment and usually an impairment in functioning,” says Barbara O. Rothbaum, PhD, ABPP, a professor of psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine and a board member of The TLC Foundation for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors. That means that the behavior makes people self-conscious, injured, or anxious enough that it stops them from interacting with others, going to work, making social plans, or experiencing other important parts of life.
You don’t have to reach this level to notice that you
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