Browsing: OCD

Many people do not know how to stop skin picking once it becomes a true disorder. The disorder, also called dermatillomania or neurotic excoriation, causes significant emotional distress and embarrassment due to the lesions and wounds caused by the picking. Sadly, most people do not seek treatment to stop skin picking because of the stigma associated with it. Foregoing skin picking treatment can lead to severe and even life-threatening complications.

Compulsive skin picking can negatively impact a person emotionally, physically and socially, interfering with school, work, or daily activities. Also called excoriation disorder or dermatillomania, the effects of this disorder can range from mild to severe. Episodes of obsessive skin picking are often preceded by some sort of trigger, such as an irregularity on the skin, anxiety, or other uncomfortable internal feelings.

More people than you might think have a disturbing habit of picking scabs, including face picking or scalp picking. Those that do this to the extreme may suffer from dermatillomania, also known as excoriation disorder. If scab picking, face picking or scalp picking are so bad that they make a person feel embarrassed, ashamed or alone; if any of these habits feel more like an obsession or hold a person back from social interaction; if doing these things causes scars or disfigurement, then dermatillomania is the most probable cause.

OCD skin picking, called excoriation disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Health, Fifth Edition (DSM-V), involves the repetitive picking of one’s skin resulting in damage to tissue. People engage in compulsive skin picking in an attempt to relieve some type of emotional distress. Frequently, these people feel a strong, persistent urge to pick their skin, but it’s an unconscious habit for many sufferers. Those suffering from the condition report a feeling of relief or even pleasure following the skin picking behavior.

Dermatillomania, also known as compulsive skin picking (CSP), is a mental illness wherein sufferers feel very strong urges to pick at their skin to the point of damaging it. Some experts call it excoriation disorder or neurotic skin picking. Regardless of what your mental health professional or family doctor calls it, it’s a real disorder and people suffering from it usually can’t stop on their own.

Skin picking disorder, aka excoriation disorder, is a perplexing psychological condition. Merriam-Webster defines excoriation as the act of abrading or wearing off the skin. This can happen inadvertently in any number of ways, such as scratching an insect bite, or wearing ill-fitting shoes, or even popping a pimple. This seems innocuous in and of itself, but the darker side of skin picking, excoriation disorder, is getting increasing attention from medical experts these days.

Hair pulling in children refers to a hair pulling disorder called trichotillomania in which the child feels a persistent, excessive urge to pull out his or her own hair. The practice results in obvious hair loss. Although it’s common for children and teens to play with their hair, compulsive hair pulling in children can develop into a serious condition.

There is hair pulling help for those with this compulsive-disorder in the form of trichotillomania support. It’s important to find outside support for your disorder even after you seek and have benefitted from professional trichotillomania treatment. Although researchers have begun studying hair pulling disorder more deeply in recent years, experts still don’t know exactly what causes trichotillomania.

People with compulsive hair pulling disorder want a cure for trichotillomania. Those suffering from the disorder can (and do) get better with trichotillomania treatment. Regarding an actual cure for trichotillomania, it depends on how you define the word “cure”.