Compulsive Skin Picking Anyone?

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Do you pick at your skin till you bleed? Then you may have:
Dermatillomania!


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dermatillomania (also known as compulsive skin picking or CSP) is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused.

Disfiguration of the distal and proximal joints of the middle and little fingers.

Sufferers of dermatillomania find skin picking to be stress relieving or gratifying rather than painful.Contents [hide]
1 Habits of dermatillomania sufferers
2 Causes and treatments
3 Synonyms
4 Hyponyms
5 See also
6 References
7 External links


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Habits of dermatillomania sufferers

Episodes of skin picking are often preceded or accompanied by moments of tension, anxiety, stress, or paranoia. 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, chest and extremities such as the hands, feet, and arms. Symptoms most commonly expressed in these areas are swelling, scarring, and callusing due to damage to the affected region's epidermis.

In the face of these symptoms, most sufferers 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.

Often dermatillomania sufferers find that their disorder intereferes with daily life. Plagued by shame, embarrassment, and humiliation, they will take measures to hide their disorder by not leaving the home, wearing long sleeves and pants in summer, and heavy make-up use for coverage. The disorder is typically found among females more than males.

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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.[citation needed] They are also sometimes prescribed medications, such as those prescribed for obsessive compulsive disorder.

In some cases, removing the major "abnormalities" in the skin may be of some use, particularly if the problem is confined to a particular area such as the feet. In this case, applying a solution consisting of 3% or less of hydrogen peroxide and bandaging the area tightly for several hours will allow most of the dead skin to slough away, leaving a relatively smooth surface that may be protected by a physical barrier from picking for the few days until healing is complete. Solutions of 10% hydrogen peroxide or greater can significantly damage skin.

Photos and more links galore - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatillomania

I admit that I do pick at my skin, though I'm careful enough that I can do it without making myself bleed. And I only do it because I feel I need to do something with my hands. If I don't, I'll get bored, even if I"m doing something else that doesn't require using the hands, like reading.

Just the hard skin on my feet

I didn't know there was an actual name for it, but I definitely have it. I'm constantly picking at my skin until I bleed. I find it quite gratifying.

i used to pick the skin around my thumbs very badly but ive somehow grown out of it after 17 years-ish. i now have slightly swollen but well healed around my thumnail, ive barely got a fingerprint around that area

steffxx

I imagine this compulsion is similar to tricotillamania

If something stands out on the skin, off it goes.
Especially on my shoulders where the skin isn't oh-so-perfect, and more so now with all the scabs.

Skin picking? All the time, sadly. I don't like my face...it's full of acne, and I can't help but pick it off, which of course results in more acne and scarring.

used to be nails then I progressed to lips, but even though it is highly gratifying I try mightily not to... hence why my thumbs look the way they do.

It is definitely a stress/tension related activity.

jjstar, how does this relate to AS? or is there no correlation?

Yes, definitely. I have psoriasis behind my ears, and the skin plaques are extremely gratifying to pick off. I often pick at them until I bleed, which I don't notice until I see the blood on my fingers, because it doesn't hurt. I'm trying to get better at stopping before the bleeding starts. Also, I have to be careful not to do it in public.

HAHAHA omg this made me laugh so much, I must look really silly sitting here giggling!

I had trich as a baby reeeeally badly, I was totally bald until I was about 3 or 4 (people thought I was having chemo or something!). Parents got me out of that one thank goodness, but I've always had something... I've never had any toenails for that reason.

BUT...

For the last 3 years it's been this! I constantly pick at spots on my face/arms/back/shoulders, lots of bleeding spots and cuts and scabs and yuck. And my face too... it's so hard not to pick at that though I am a little more gentle with it, hehe, I'm very conscious of it. I tend to pick at my lips at the moment too as they're all chapped from the cold. And my scalp.

It's just one of my stims, never realised there was a proper name for it.

I do this too. And definitely more when I'm stressed.

Wow, there definitely seems to be a correlation between AS and this.

I've always picked the skin off of my feet, sometimes by hand, sometimes with nail clippers - not to the point where I bleed, but frequently to the point where I'll limp or have trouble walking for the next few days.

I don't feel that it's a compulsion, i.e. If I tried to stop, I doubt that I would have some type of severe discomfort - I just find it satisfying, and I need something to do with my hands.

I mostly pick my upper back (sometimes face as well). Any little bump is the start of a wound that I won't let heal. I had a lot of problems not picking for almost three months due to the choice of wearing a backless wedding dress. Thank god for photo editing - I have lots of scars.