Skin Picking Disorder

Skin picking disorder or dermatillomania (derm-ah-till-oh-main-ee-ah; also known as excoriation disorder, or DTM) is the repetitive urge to pick or scratch the skin. Common areas for picking include the face, lips, arms, back and legs. This is commonly done using one’s fingers, fingernails or with tools like tweezers, pins or scissors. The behaviour can lead to cuts, lesions, scarring, and in severe cases, infection.

Diagnostic Criteria (DSM-5)

• Recurrent skin picking resulting in skin lesions.

• Repeated attempts to decrease or stop skin picking.

• The skin picking causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

• The skin picking is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., cocaine) or another medical condition (e.g., scabies).

• The skin picking is not better explained by symptoms of another mental disorder (e.g., delusions or tactile hallucinations in a psychotic disorder, attempts to improve a perceived defect or flaw in appearance in body dysmorphic disorder, stereotypies in stereotypic movement disorder, or intention to harm oneself in nonsuicidal self-injury).