Dear Sooz:
My husband has a serious and annoying habit. He is a loud gum popper. While this may not seem like a big deal, try living with it for 20 years. Everywhere we go, and anything we do, that gum becomes a huge annoyance, not only to me but to everyone.
I have asked him nicely, and I have also nagged him about this, but nothing seems to work. I am pulling my hair out here Sooz, what can I do to get him to stop this annoying habit?
Popped Out
Dear Popped out:
I feel your pain; I have had many a lover with different annoying habits. Nail biting, hair flipping, knuckle cracking, (This one bothers ME the most), and also eye twirling, just some of the imperfections I’ve had to deal with.
I myself, of course, am totally normal with NO annoying habits, yeah, RIGHT!!! Anyway, there are a few good ways to stop annoying habits. The first way is to make the individual in question AWARE that it is indeed a BAD habit.
Secondly, have the individual set up a notebook. Every time he starts popping, make him write down how is feeling at the time. Is he bored, depressed, hungry, angry, etc? By him writing down how he felt at the time, this will help bring awareness to his bad habit and WHY he is doing this.
Have him keep the journal for at least a week, the more he becomes AWARE of what he is doing, the more the inclination will be to stop. Usually, it will take between 10 and 30 days, if he DOES these things, and he loves you, he will STOP this annoying habit. You can also try hypnosis; it’s relatively cheap and many times will produce good results. I wish you much luck with this annoying problem.
