Hello. My name is Shelley, and I'm a knuckle cracker

I crack my knuckles. A lot. To the point that it has become a detriment to myself and those around me. Laura (work colleague/housemate) has bought earplugs. I'm not kidding. In light of such drastic measures, I thought it might be time to try to stop. So I did what all people in the modern age do: I went to the internet for advice.

I found a rather interesting article on Wiki (of course).

There is quite a bit in that article I find note worthy, particularly this: "Truly excessive knuckle popping, especially accompanied by the popping of other joints in the body, can be an early sign of more serious anxiety disorders."

They (Wiki and a few other resources I've read through) seem to be convinced that all nervous habits, such as knuckle cracking, nail biting, hair twirling, etc, all stem from some deeply seeded anxiety and that the easiest way to stop is to pinpoint said anxiety and take steps to reduce it. There is no doubt that I fall under the ‘excessive’ and ‘multiple joint’ categories, but I don’t feel as though I am particularly ‘nervous’. Could it be possible that I have some horrible anxiety disorder and not even know about it? Could it be the left over symptoms of a childhood anxiety disorder that has since resolved itself?

There also seems to be a widely held belief that the best, and perhaps only, way to stop yourself from knuckle cracking is through some basic behavioral techniques.

From the perspective of an addict, I think both of the above theories are crap. Cracking my knuckles feels good. This is why I started doing it. I continue to do it for the same reason, and because it is such an ingrained behavior that I do it subconsciously. Further, if I don't do it, it causes great discomfort in my joints - hence why I don’t/can’t stop. It'd be like telling someone they can only breathe once every 30 seconds. A person could do that, and they could live like that, but it would be uncomfortable and unnatural.

My question is open to anyone, but I am particularly interested in what John and Mike (and any other psych kids out there), think of this. How do I stop cracking my knuckles?

I hold no reservations that I would be able to do this cold turkey. So, as a first step, I have chosen a compromise. There are five different ways I can crack my knuckles. I am restricting myself to one. We'll see how that goes...

This, of course, does not take into account my neck, wrists, back, knees and toes, which I also pop on a regular basis. Baby steps people, baby steps.