London Hypnotherapy Clinic
2018
Has your skin picking resulting in permanent damage? Perhaps you have a sense that you must remove imperfections to create smooth, blemish-free, perfect skin? Does your skin picking/scratching take up a lot of time and energy? Have you tried to use willpower to stop, but not been able to? Are you wearing clothes and make up specifically to cover up scars, infections or scabs? Do you feel ashamed, that you have to keep your skin picking a secret?
We specialise in hypnotherapy for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs) like hair pulling (trichotillomania), skin picking (dermatillomania), nail biting (onychophagia) and thumb sucking. Sian is a Professional Member of The TLC Foundation for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours, and has completed their professional training for treatment of BFRBs.
What is skin picking?
Skin picking is one in a set of disorders categorised as Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs), which occur on the Obsessive Compulsive spectrum. It is three times more common than anorexia, with a prevalence of between 1-4% in the general population. Typically, people will regularly engage in repetitive self-grooming habits that end up damaging their bodies, for example, pulling, picking, biting or scraping of the hair, skin or nails. It's important to note that the intention is to remove perceived imperfections, so this is not self-harm - any damage is a by-product, rather than desired outcome.
In addition to the physical impact of skin picking, people often also experience a sense of shame and isolation, frustration, anxiety and low self-esteem related to the behaviour. This often creates a vicious cycle, as the skin picking has a negative effect on relationships, work and overall quality of life, which often leads to more skin picking to alleviate the uncomfortable feelings being experienced.
While there are instances of people who have started skin picking much earlier than adolescence, most people who pick their skin (or engage in other BFRBs) start between the ages of 11 and 13. It tends to occur more frequently in women, but this may be due to that fact that men tend to under-report health issues. Over time, skin picking often features cycles of varying severity.
What's in a name?
This behaviour has a range of associated terms eg skin picking, dermatillomania, Skin Picking Disorder. In May 2013, the latest edition the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) was released and skin picking was added to a new category called Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Behaviours. It was also agreed that the new medical term for skin picking would be Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder, over and above Skin Picking Disorder, or the more commonly used term, dermatillomania.
