Question regarding cutting, skin picking etc.

[Guest guest]

Now that this has come up, I have a question. Is skin picking considered a self

injurious behavior, like cutting is? Are they both OCD spectrum disorders?

Tina

[Guest guest]

Hi Tina. I found a couple things on your question.

Here's a paragraph from an article on skin-picking/nail biting:

" There are many that now believe that compulsive hair pulling, skin picking, and

nail biting form a subgroup of what is becoming known as the Obsessive-

Compulsive Disorder Spectrum. OCD has been previously been regarded as only a

single disorder. It may in fact represent a range of related disorders,

including classic OCD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia,

Trichotillomania, Onychophagia, Compulsive Skin Picking, Compulsive Nail Biting,

and Tourette's Syndrome. Recently, a new term has been coined for these

problems - Body-focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs). As with trichotillomania,

skin picking and nail biting are considered to originate within the chemistry of

the brain, and may well have an underlying genetic cause. "

http://westsuffolkpsych.homestead.com/SkinPicking.html

And then I found this looking up info about cutting (I took out the info on each

but am posting the link:

" The most common self-injurious behaviors are:

Cutting -

ng –

Picking at skin or re-opening wounds (dermatillomania) -

Hair-pulling (trichotillomania) –

Hitting (with hammer or other object), Bone breaking, Punching, Head-banging

(more often seen with autism or severe mental retardation)

Multiple piercing or tattooing -

Drinking harmful chemicals

http://helpguide.org/mental/self_injury.htm

From what I've read here/there over time, cutting isn't part of OCD or that

" spectrum " . Though if it's a compulsive type of cutting, I found this

paragraph: " Further break downs: superficial/moderate self-injury into three

types: compulsive, episodic, and repetitive. Compulsive self-injury differs in

character from the other two types and is more closely associated with

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Compulsive self-harm comprises hair-pulling

(trichotillomania), skin picking, and excoriation when it is done to remove

perceived faults or blemishes in the skin. These acts may be part of an OCD

ritual involving obsessional thoughts; the person tries to relieve tension and

prevent some bad thing from happening by engaging in these self-harm behaviors.

Compulsive self-harm has a somewhat different nature and different roots from

the impulsive (episodic and repetitive types). "

Hope this didn't confuse!

>

> Now that this has come up, I have a question. Is skin picking considered a

self injurious behavior, like cutting is? Are they both OCD spectrum disorders?

>

> Tina

>

[Guest guest]

That can be tricky to answer and I think it depends on several things....How

much does it interfere with daily functioning and social interaction. How much

is spent doing it. What are the circumstances that lead up to it happening.

What are the thoughts behind it? Finally, I think that practitioners may vary

in their response to it.

If I am correct, the thought behind habit reversal training is to become more

aware of your behavior and to introduce behaviors that interfere with being able

to satisfy that habit/urge. For example, you might squeeze a ball in your hand

for minutes each time you have the urge to pick. However with OCD it is the

anxious thought behind the behavior (anxiety about looking perfect or ugly) that

has to be dealt with in terms of ERP. In this situation, you might have to

imagine yourself looking horrible and running into everyone you know without

being able to look in a mirror before you go out. See what I mean?

Bonnie

>

> Now that this has come up, I have a question. Is skin picking considered a

self injurious behavior, like cutting is? Are they both OCD spectrum disorders?

>

> Tina

>