Diksha Sundriyal
War ensues in the second season of HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ as Aegon and Rhaenyra Targaryen launch an attack against one other to lay claim to the Iron Throne in the wake of their father’s death. Each move becomes a cause of stress for the other, and the people surrounding them also find themselves in very stressful situations that take a toll on them. Everyone deals with this stress in their own way, but none of them like Alicent Hightower. While each character has their own trait, Alicent’s is to pick at her fingernails. She tends to do it to the point that she ends up hurting herself, as her fingernails almost always seem to be bleeding. But why exactly does she do it? SPOILERS AHEAD
Alicent’s Fingernail-Picking Habit is a Mental Disorder
Each of us has, at some point, chewed at our nails or picked at the skin around the fingernails. This usually happens under extreme stress, and we are often unaware of the act. However, excess of anything is harmful to one’s health, and the same goes for the habit of chewing or picking at fingernails. If one tends to do it so much that their fingernails start to bleed, then it is a clear sign of a disorder known as dermatillomania or excoriation disorder, which is what Alicent has.
Dermatillomania is described as “a mental health condition where you compulsively pick at your skin. This can cause injuries, infections, and scarring, leading to stress, anxiety, and a reduced sense of well-being.” Psychotherapist Georgia Dow describes it as a situation “when you end up dealing with your stress or worry through picking at or nibbling on parts of your body. Some people think it’s only for nervousness, but also it’s a way of us soothing ourselves. Often this happens unconsciously, you’re just doing it, you have an exam and suddenly you’ve bitten off five nails and you didn’t even know until after.”
Considering the environment she lives in, Alicent’s fingernail-picking disorder makes complete sense, but it isn’t just the war that triggers her. We had seen this habit in her in the entirety of Season 1 when she was still a teenager, and things were still alright in King Viserys’ household. The first time we see her do it is in the first episode at the tourney, where her brother competes. At the time, it seems like something she would do because she is worried about the outcome of the event, in which people are known to have died ofttimes. However, as the story progresses, the real extent of her disorder comes to light.
Alicent’s habit flares, especially when she is thrown into politics by her father, who encourages her to seduce and marry Viserys, following which things only get more and more stressful. But the fact that she had it even before Aemma’s death shows that she’d been struggling with it for a very long time. Her father and Rhaenyra knew about this habit, and often, we’d see Rhaenyra gesturing to Alicent to stop it politely and reassuringly. It shows that Alicent had always struggled with anxiety and had no way to let it out because that’s not what’s expected of a lady. She was always expected to be on her best behavior and appearance and never let anyone see her distress. But inside, she had a turmoil that she couldn’t control, and fingernail picking was the only way she felt she had some control over the situation, even if it meant hurting herself to feel it.
Had there been a therapist in Westeros, Alicent’s disorder would most likely have been treated, and the solution would have included putting a distance between her and her toxic family. The origin of this disorder could also be traced to Alicent losing her mother and never being able to talk about her loss with anyone, especially her father, who always kept an emotional distance from her. Around the same time, Alicent was also distanced from the rest of her family when she was brought to King’s Landing while her siblings lived in Oldtown. Whatever support system she could have received from them was taken away, as she had to learn to survive on her own. Just when she thought she could get better, having found a dear friend in Rhaenyra, it was taken away from her, and nothing was ever the same again.
Read More: House of the Dragon: What Happens to Sunfyre? Is It Dead?
