About this site

Who's behind it

badhabits.io is built and edited by Bernard Zitzer. Bernard builds tools and communities for behavior change, including HabitTracker.io, a free habit tracker, and the Doism community at bernardzitzer.com, where he publishes videos and long-form content on habits and self-discipline. This site is the reference half of that work: one honest page per habit.

How the verdicts are made

Every habit page answers the same three questions (is it actually bad, why, and how do you break it) using established behavioral science: the cue–routine–reward loop, replacement over suppression, implementation intentions, and the habit-formation timelines from Lally et al. (UCL). Where a habit turns out to be harmless (knuckle cracking, napping, talking to yourself), we say so plainly, because a site that calls everything dangerous is useful for nothing. Where a habit can be more than a habit (body-focused repetitive behaviors, substance dependence, problem gambling), we say that too, and point to professional help and real helplines rather than pretending willpower is a treatment plan.

Where the numbers come from

Three separate sources, never mixed: search demand (monthly US search volumes from Semrush US broad-match exports, 2026-07-20, aggregated across 3,944 habit-related queries with music and unrelated results removed, a proxy for how many people are asking, not a prevalence measure); published research (prevalence figures on habit pages cite their primary source: CDC, NIH, or peer-reviewed literature, and link to it); and reader votes (the anonymous poll on each habit page, reported with its own count and never presented as science). If a number on this site has no source next to it, it's search data and labeled as such.

What this site is not

Not medical advice, not therapy, and not a moral judgment. Habits are systems problems, not character flaws. That's the editorial line, and every page follows it. If a habit is causing you real harm or distress, a doctor or therapist is the right next step, and the page for that habit will tell you the same.

Questions, corrections, or data requests: contact. We correct errors fast and credit the person who caught them.