Finger, tongue and thumb sucking is also prevalent in the adult population.
According to Healthline.com Adults who suck their thumbs may find that it reduces anxiety and stress, helping them to calm down.
It’s possible that some adults who suck their thumbs experienced trauma during childhood and turned to the behavior to calm themselves down during that time. In some instances, the behavior may simply stick, making for an easy-to-access stress reliever.
Adult thumb sucking may also become a habit that’s almost involuntary, used to relieve boredom in addition to stress.
Myofunctional Therapy reduces the risk of further occlusal damage and changes the lip rest posture to increase support for the teeth. (Occlusion, in a dental context, means simply the contact between teeth.)
Myofunctional Therapist have helped many adults to overcome this habit, usually on the first visit, with a POSITIVE, behavior modification program.