Everyone picks at acne or a scab once in a while. When hours are spent ripping apart the protection the human anatomy is blessed with, the picking becomes a symptom of a complex disorder. Skin-picking disorder is a body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB) that falls in the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorders. The disorder was previously known as dermatillomania, which is similar to the name of its “sister disorder” trichotillomania, compulsive hair pulling. The name was changed to Excoriation disorder when inducted into the DSM-5 in May 2013. The symptoms, causes, and treatments of this disorder are complex, but easily accessible, yet those who suffer from excoriation disorder often choose to stay quiet. Excoriation disorder is the
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When attempting to not pick, the anxiety and urge to pick grows and can only be relieved by succumbing to the compulsion (Wood, Wood, Boyd, Wood & Desmarais, 2014). According to WebMD (n.d.), dermatillomania can begin with something as small as a rash or small injury. The foreign appearance of your skin because of these injuries can cause the person to pick, which slows down the healing process and causes a harmful cycle of scabbing and then picking again (WebMd, n.d.). Periods of emotionally distress also cause skin-picking. Skin-picking releases endorphins, which provides a sense of relief (Quinn, 2015). Dermatillomania is associated with anxiety and depression disorders, so when someone is feelings stressed, depressed, or anxious, skin-picking provides a temporary relief from the mental agony (Quinn, 2015). According to SkinPick.com (n.d.), some researchers believe that an imbalance in serotonin levels can cause dermatillomania. Some also believe it hereditary or that it can be learned through observational learning or …show more content…
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is commonly used to treat dermatillomania because it changes the pattern of thinking. Professionals using CBT to fix this disorder “help clients to identify, challenge and modify their distorted and dysfunctional thoughts related to their skin-picking behaviors” (Paylo & Zins, 2015). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) helps those to “embrace these unpleasant emotions by noticing their emotional response, attempting to tolerate these emotions in the present and ultimately engaging in more adaptive behaviors,” which helps them alter their coping mechanisms to something less harmful than skin-picking (Paylo & Zins, 2015). Habit reversal training (HRT) “increases clients’ awareness of their behaviors, develops alternative responses, reinforces those responses and generalizes these new behaviors to alternative situations,” so basically the professionals try to determine the behaviours that occur before the patient even begins to pick (Paylo &Zins, 2015). Hypnosis is another form of treatment, although less patients turn to hypnosis because of skepticism. Selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRI) can be prescribed in order to solve the chemical imbalance of serotonin found in the victims of this disorder, but some individuals claim that the medicine did not help or that the medicine worked only when
When attempting to not pick, the anxiety and urge to pick grows and can only be relieved by succumbing to the compulsion (Wood, Wood, Boyd, Wood & Desmarais, 2014). According to WebMD (n.d.), dermatillomania can begin with something as small as a rash or small injury. The foreign appearance of your skin because of these injuries can cause the person to pick, which slows down the healing process and causes a harmful cycle of scabbing and then picking again (WebMd, n.d.). Periods of emotionally distress also cause skin-picking. Skin-picking releases endorphins, which provides a sense of relief (Quinn, 2015). Dermatillomania is associated with anxiety and depression disorders, so when someone is feelings stressed, depressed, or anxious, skin-picking provides a temporary relief from the mental agony (Quinn, 2015). According to SkinPick.com (n.d.), some researchers believe that an imbalance in serotonin levels can cause dermatillomania. Some also believe it hereditary or that it can be learned through observational learning or …show more content…
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is commonly used to treat dermatillomania because it changes the pattern of thinking. Professionals using CBT to fix this disorder “help clients to identify, challenge and modify their distorted and dysfunctional thoughts related to their skin-picking behaviors” (Paylo & Zins, 2015). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) helps those to “embrace these unpleasant emotions by noticing their emotional response, attempting to tolerate these emotions in the present and ultimately engaging in more adaptive behaviors,” which helps them alter their coping mechanisms to something less harmful than skin-picking (Paylo & Zins, 2015). Habit reversal training (HRT) “increases clients’ awareness of their behaviors, develops alternative responses, reinforces those responses and generalizes these new behaviors to alternative situations,” so basically the professionals try to determine the behaviours that occur before the patient even begins to pick (Paylo &Zins, 2015). Hypnosis is another form of treatment, although less patients turn to hypnosis because of skepticism. Selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRI) can be prescribed in order to solve the chemical imbalance of serotonin found in the victims of this disorder, but some individuals claim that the medicine did not help or that the medicine worked only when