Dermatillomania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dermatillomania (also known as compulsive skin picking or CSP) is an obsessive compulsive disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused.
Sufferers of dermatillomania find skin picking to be stress relieving or gratifying rather than painful.
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[edit] Habits of dermatillomania sufferers
Episodes of skin picking are often preceded or accompanied by moments of tension, anxiety, stress, and paranoid. During these moments, there is commonly a compulsive urge to pick, bite, itch, or scratch at a surface or region of the body.
The regions most commonly affected by this are the face, back, scalp and extremities such as the hands, feet, and arms. Symptoms most commonly expressed in this areas are swelling, scarring, and callusing due to damage to the affected region's epidermis.
In the face of these symptoms, most suffers feel and recognize a need to stop the process but are physically and mentally unable without aid. Additionally, the development of said symptoms is very similar to the expression of trichotillomania, or the compulsive pulling of hair from the body.
[edit] Causes and Treatments
The inability to control the urge to pick is similar to Trichotillomania. [1] Recent research suggests that, like Trichotillomania, dermatillomania may be an impulse control disorder. This is part of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder spectrum. [2]
Some sufferers feel that "picking off" pimples or skin abnormalities may rid them of these flaws and help them look more "normal". They feel the pimples they have are not like those of others, but abnormal. In these cases, skin picking may be a symptom of body dysmorphic disorder. [3]
Few mental health practitioners have studied the disease, as many of these cases go unreported, but some individuals have found relief through cognitive-behavioral therapy. Hypnosis and self-hypnosis and meditation have also proven useful for some patients. They are also sometimes prescribed medications, such as those prescribed for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Or sufferers try to give up the habit in ways similar to those used for Nail biting.
[edit] Synonyms
- compulsive skin picking
- acne excoriee (from French)
- chronic skin picking
- excoriated acne
- neurotic excoriation
- psychogenic excoriation
- skin picking
- self injurious skin picking
- obsessive skin picking
[edit] Hyponyms
- compulsive face picking
- scalp picking
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Information
- FREE Online Book written by a former skin picker
- OCD Center of Los Angeles: Compulsive Skin Picking
- Dr. Grossbart: How to Stop Compulsive Skin Picking and Scratching
- Support forums and groups
