What is Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder?
Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder is characterized by the repetitive touching, rubbing, scratching, or picking at one's own skin, often in an attempt to remove small irregularities or perceived imperfections. About 5% of the general population suffer from skin picking disorder. A more recent term, body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB), has been used to describe repetitive self-grooming behaviors in which pulling, picking, biting or scraping of the hair, skin, or nails result in damage to the body. Skin picking disorder should be not be confused with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Discoloration, scarring, and even severe tissue damage can occur to the skin after picking. Skin picking can occur when a person experiences feelings such as anxiety, excitement, or boredom. Some report that the act of repetitively picking is pleasurable. Many hours can be spent picking the skin, and can negatively impact a person's social, work and family relationships.
How We Can Help
Our therapists will use a special form of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), called Comprehensive Behavioral (ComB) Model, to help the individual learn specific skills to decrease the urge to pick. For children with trichotillomania, our therapists will guide parents to effectively implement an incentive plan and decrease accommodating behaviors in order to motivate their child to use their coping skills. Treatment begins with assessing the function of the individual's picking. This can include the need to increase the positive sensations (e.g., "I like the popping sensation of a blemish") or decrease negative sensations (e.g., "I don't like the bump") that trigger picking, thoughts that trigger or maintain picking (e.g., "My skin needs to feel perfectly smooth"), the negative emotions related to picking (e.g., boredom, anxiety), the need to fiddle, and particular settings and instruments used for picking. Specific strategies are used to address these categories, such as finding things to substitute for a particular sensation, thought reframing, keeping the hands busy, throwing away picking instruments, or banning certain settings that are tempting to pick, to name a few. Our therapists encourage the practice of mindfulness and acceptance strategies, allowing individuals to learn to label their feelings without judging them. The goal is to pursue meaningful activities despite the presence of discomfort, thus promoting better overall functioning.
Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder is characterized by the repetitive touching, rubbing, scratching, or picking at one's own skin, often in an attempt to remove small irregularities or perceived imperfections. About 5% of the general population suffer from skin picking disorder. A more recent term, body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB), has been used to describe repetitive self-grooming behaviors in which pulling, picking, biting or scraping of the hair, skin, or nails result in damage to the body. Skin picking disorder should be not be confused with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Discoloration, scarring, and even severe tissue damage can occur to the skin after picking. Skin picking can occur when a person experiences feelings such as anxiety, excitement, or boredom. Some report that the act of repetitively picking is pleasurable. Many hours can be spent picking the skin, and can negatively impact a person's social, work and family relationships.
How We Can Help
Our therapists will use a special form of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), called Comprehensive Behavioral (ComB) Model, to help the individual learn specific skills to decrease the urge to pick. For children with trichotillomania, our therapists will guide parents to effectively implement an incentive plan and decrease accommodating behaviors in order to motivate their child to use their coping skills. Treatment begins with assessing the function of the individual's picking. This can include the need to increase the positive sensations (e.g., "I like the popping sensation of a blemish") or decrease negative sensations (e.g., "I don't like the bump") that trigger picking, thoughts that trigger or maintain picking (e.g., "My skin needs to feel perfectly smooth"), the negative emotions related to picking (e.g., boredom, anxiety), the need to fiddle, and particular settings and instruments used for picking. Specific strategies are used to address these categories, such as finding things to substitute for a particular sensation, thought reframing, keeping the hands busy, throwing away picking instruments, or banning certain settings that are tempting to pick, to name a few. Our therapists encourage the practice of mindfulness and acceptance strategies, allowing individuals to learn to label their feelings without judging them. The goal is to pursue meaningful activities despite the presence of discomfort, thus promoting better overall functioning.
P H O N E 219.228.7630
F A X 219.228.1083
E M A I L info@anxietybehavioralhealth.com
A D D R E S S 900 Ridge Road, Suite F, Munster, Indiana 46321
F A X 219.228.1083
E M A I L info@anxietybehavioralhealth.com
A D D R E S S 900 Ridge Road, Suite F, Munster, Indiana 46321