What Is Skin Picking Disorder?
What Is Skin Picking Disorder?
What Is Skin Picking Disorder?
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What is skin picking disorder?
Skin picking disorder is a disorder where a person:
• Picks their skin over and over again, AND
• The picking is often or bad enough to cause tissue damage AND
• It causes a lot of distress and/or problems with work, social, or other daily activities.
People with skin picking disorder can (and often do) have other psychological symptoms, like depression
and anxiety.
Do all people who pick their skin have skin picking disorder?
No. Research has shown that many people pick at their skin from time to time. It is not uncommon for a healthy
person to occasionally pick at pimples, scabs, or even healthy skin. Skin picking is not considered a disorder
unless it is often and/or bad enough to cause significant distress or problems in other areas of life. Also, other
types of health problems like skin conditions, mental retardation, and even drug use/withdrawal may cause
people to pick at their skin at times. However, people with primary skin picking disorder do not pick at their skin
only because they have these other problems.
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people with skin picking disorder pick skin over and over again, often in response to recurrent thoughts about
or urges to touch or pick skin. In this way, symptoms of skin picking disorder are similar to those of OCD, which
is characterized by urges to do repetitive behaviors (rituals) in response to other types of recurrent thoughts,
images, and impulses. Skin picking disorder also shares similarities with other OC spectrum disorders, like
trichotillomania (repetitive hair pulling disorder), tic disorders, and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) (an OC
spectrum disorder characterized by repetitive thoughts about appearance-related concerns). People with skin
picking disorder are more likely than people without it to have OCD and other OC spectrum disorders.
More Information:
• The Trichotillomania Learning Center: bfrb.org
• Stop Picking.com: stoppicking.com
P.O. Box 961029, Boston, MA 02196 • Tel: (617) 973-5801 • [email protected] • iocdf.org • @iocdf