Although pathological skin-picking has been documented in the medical literature since the 19th century, it has only recently been included as a distinct entity in psychiatric classification systems. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition and the proposed International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision, excoriation (skin-picking) disorder (ED), als...

Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a genetic disorder caused by mutations to the q11-13 region on chromosome 15, commonly show severe skin-picking behaviors that can cause open wounds and sores on the body. To our knowledge, however, no studies have examined the potential neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors. Seventeen individuals with PWS, aged 6-25 years, who showed severe ...

Wigren, M. & Heimann, M. Skin Picking in Prader-Willi Syndrome: A Pilot Study of Clinical Differences and Comorbid Symptoms. Göteborg Psychological Reports, 1999, 29, No. 6. Skin picking constitutes a minor diagnostic criterion for Prader-Willi syndrome and is considered to be a syndrome specific behavior and part of a behavioral phenotype. This study surveyed different aspects and patterns of ...

The effectiveness of a deliberately limited version of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for chronic skin picking was evaluated in a pair of multiple baseline across participants designs. Self-monitoring of skin picking showed that four of the five participants reached near zero levels of picking by post-treatment, but these gains were not fully maintained for three of the four participan...

This article describes the development and initial psychometric properties of the Milwaukee Inventory for the Dimensions of Adult Skin picking (MIDAS), a measure designed to assess "automatic" and "focused" skin picking. Data were collected from 92 participants who completed an anonymous internet-based survey. Results of an exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution. Factors 1 (...

OBJECTIVE Interactions between psychological, biological and environmental factors are important in development of trichotillomania and skin picking. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship of traumatic life events, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation in patients with diagnoses of trichotillomania and skin picking disorder. METHODS The study included pat...

The current study examined the frequency and associated distress of both hairpulling and skin picking behaviors in 1,324 college students using the Massachusetts General Hospital Hairpulling Scale (MGHHS) and Skin Picking Scale (SPS). In this sample, many participants reported significant distress secondary to both hairpulling and skin picking. Participants who endorsed relatively frequent hair...

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder caused by an abnormality on the long arm of chromosome 15 (q11-q13) that results in a host of behavioral characteristics including excessive interest in food, skin picking, difficulty with a change in routine, and obsessive and compulsive behaviors. Skin-picking can result in serious and potentially life-threatening infections...