Text Size
Smaller
Bigger

If you have skin picking disorder you can’t resist your impulses to pick at your skin. You probably spend a great deal of time each day either picking or hiding the effects of your actions and your skin definitely suffers lesions or tissue damage as a result. Your disorder causes you to feel embarrassed or ashamed and it interferes with your ability to lead a normal and happy life.

You may well feel tension before you pick and a sense of relief afterward and if you’re like most skin pickers you pick at your face using your fingers or tweezers – picking at real and imagined blemishes – often until you end up bleeding.

You almost certainly try to hide your disorder and its effects on your skin and if you’re like many with this condition you’ll avoid certain types of social situations to keep your affliction a secret.

Although doctors aren’t yet sure how to classify skin picking disorder (probably a subtype of impulse control disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder) no one denies the seriousness of the condition, the difficulty people with the disorder have in controlling their impulses and the need for treatments that can help.

Skin picking disorder is also sometimes called dermatillomania or copmpulsive skin picking.

Diagnosis – Do You Have Skin Picking Disorder?

Although not currently in the American Psychiatric Association's Manual of Mental Health Disorders, the DMV-IVr, it is under consideration for addition to the upcoming DSM-V edition.

Based on the criteria under consideration for inclusion into the upcoming manual, to meet a diagnosis of skin picking disorder you must:

  1. Engage in re-occurring bouts of skin picking and this picking must result in tissue damage or lesions
  1. Feel or experience significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important life-area functioning as a result of your skin picking disorder
  1. Not pick as a result of substance use or abuse (cocaine or methamphetamine use, for example) nor pick as a result of a medical condition, like scabies
  1. Not have another mental health disorder which better explains the skin picking, such as body dysmorphic disorder or delusional disorder

Basically, if you find that you chronically skin pick, your skin picking results in noticeable cuts or lesions, your skin picking is interfering with your quality of life and no other medical or psychiatric condition better explains your actions – then you have skin picking disorder.

References
Subscribe Subscribe to this topic category

Page last updated Nov 03, 2010

Creative Commons License
Copyright Notice
We welcome republishing of our content on condition that you credit Choose Help and the respective authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for Impulse Control Disorders
N-acetylcysteine (NAC) – An Effective Supplement for Trichotillomania and Other Impulse Control Disorders? © DiegoDiazPhotography
Could an inexpensive over-the-counter amino acid supplement really help you best your hair-pulling, skin picking, nail biting or other form of impulse control disorder? Initial research suggests that it just might. Read Article
Impulse Control Disorders February 03, 2013
Compulsive Shopping Disorder
Compulsive Buying Disorder © Orin Zebest
People with compulsive buying disorder buy when they feel down and they buy to good – unfortunately, those good feelings are quickly replaced by guilt, remorse and by ever more financial problems and credit card debt. If you think you’re a ‘shopaholic’ you may well have a mental health disorder that’s not going away on its own. Read Article
Impulse Control Disorders December 02, 2010
Compulsive Stealing
Kleptomania © Rebecca:)
Do you feel overwhelming urges to steal things that you don’t need, that have little value and which you could easily afford if you wanted to pay? Do find that stealing gives you a momentary sense of pleasure or relief from the tension that builds up prior to stealing? If so, you could be one of the less than 1% of people who experience kleptomania disorder – an impulse control disorder that’s very tough to manage without treatment. Read Article
Impulse Control Disorders October 07, 2010

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information.

Find Treatment
Browse by region »
Scan to call us
using your phone camera app