The ABC’s of Dermatillomania / Compulsive Skin Picking

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Not all skin picking is the same.

Everybody picks their skin sometimes, right?  If you tell your friends or family that you pick your skin, many of them might say “Oh, I do that, too”.  So, how do you know if your skin picking is severe enough to warrant a diagnosis of Dermatillomania, also known as Compulsive Skin Picking or Chronic Skin Picking (CSP)?

There are a variety of ways in which assessment of skin picking occurs. Self-assessment might occur by the person doing the skin picking when an individual realizes that he or she is causing scabs, scars, and/or infections. A person with Dermatillomania may also be aware that he or she is avoiding social situations, including work, school, and/or social functions such as weddings and parties.  After all, those who have picked to the point of bleeding and scabbing may be too embarrassed to be seen by others who might judge them or ask questions about their skin. › Continue reading

Tags: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Compulsive Skin Picking, Dermatillomania, Health, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Skin Picking

Treatment of OCD and OC Spectrum Disorders in Children

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“If I knew then what I know now.”

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve found yourself saying the same thing at some point in your adult life.  Nowhere is this more relevant than from the perspective of someone looking back on a childhood with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or an Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorder.  When I meet a new client under 18, there is a powerful sense of traveling through time.  I think, “If only I had someone like me to go back and talk to me when I was someone like this.” How much time might I have saved being able to resist repetitive, unnecessary rituals?  How many more events, relationships, and simple moments of peace might I have been able to enjoy if only I had known what was really happening to me? › Continue reading

Tags: Anxiety, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Children With OCD, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Compulsions, Compulsive Skin Picking, Dermatillomania, Hair Pulling, Health, Hypochondria / Health Anxiety, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Obsessions, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Phobias, Skin Picking, Social Anxiety / Social Phobia, Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania, Compulsive Skin Picking, and the Resistor’s High

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Jon Hershfield, MA, of the OCD Center of Los Angeles discusses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for the treatment of Trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling) and Dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking, or CSP).

My wife and I recently became vegetarians.  Well, she started using the word “vegetarian” to describe already never eating meat.  For me it required more of a lifestyle change.  I grew up on a small beef cattle farm, so I was used to the idea that you could grow meat the same way you grow vegetables.  Throughout my life it always felt as if meat was how one defined the difference between a “snack” and a “meal”.  So as part health experiment and part social consciousness attempt, I have given up meat for the time being.

At first I felt like I was denying myself something purely enjoyable.  I’m used to it, I like it, so why don’t I just do it?  Saying, “I want to change” or “I’m not happy with the consequences” doesn’t seem to be much comfort.  However, nearly 4 months into this experiment, I now get what can only be described as a “resistor’s high” – an addictive satisfaction derived from choosing not to eat meat. › Continue reading

Tags: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Compulsive Skin Picking, Dermatillomania, Hair Pulling, Health, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Skin Picking, Trichotillomania

New Trichotillomania Research

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For individuals who suffer with Trichotillomania, the urge to pull their own hair can be overwhelming.  While this might seem to many like a bizarre, self-destructive behavior, to those with Trichotillomania, this powerful urge can leave them with large bald spots on their scalp, no eyebrows, or no eyelashes.

Fortunately, researchers are starting to learn more about the origin of the disorder and possible treatments.  One recent study conducted at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis has uncovered a promising potential avenue for future treatment of this condition. › Continue reading

Tags: Amino Acid, Compulsive Skin Picking, Dermatillomania, Duke University, Hair Pulling, N-Acetylcysteine, Nail Biting, Onychophagia, Skin Picking, Trichotillomania, University of Minnesota