How to Deal with Dermatillomania?

Dermatillomania affects 5 percent of the population. It occurs to both men and women and may start as early as childhood. Nowadays this habit is easily noticed because psychiatrists have diagnose this as a form of impulse control disorder resulting to self mutilation. People who have are afflicted yearns to scratch without them being aware of it, and usually it leads to tissue damage and scars.

This condition can turn for the worse in one's life. It can interfere with relationships, work and general happiness. Some people don't consider CSP as a disorder that is why they don't seek treatment. To add to that, they don't know where to seek help. Fortunately, there are some psychological treatments and medication that helps skin picking disorder.

Medication. OCD medications are also used to treat CSP. This includes antidepressants or SSRIs. These drugs may take several weeks before they become effective. There is no guarantee that the result would take a 180 degree turn. A 65 percentile improvement is already considered a passing grade. Medication however should not be considered as the only treatment but also an aid in therapy.

Psychotherapy. Skin picking disorder also consider the use of cognitive-behavior therapy. There are different approaches or techniques involved in this skin picking treatment. One is Competing Response; it is a technique intended to give the person an alternative activity than picking. They would give the skin picker toys, stress balls or stuff that would keep the hands busy. The four-step approach technique of Habit Reversal training is another form of treatment where a person is taught to relax, breath and feel centered. It also involves muscle exercises. Self-monitoring, social support and stimulus control accompanies this kind of approach.

Natural Remedies. Other people prefer taking vitamin B inositol to reduce the yearning to pick and pull. Vitamins is broken down to deal with serotonin in the brain.

These skin picking treatments are all temporary means of helping someone to defy the desire to pick. The urge become weaker over time when it is often resisted. Once the urge eases, so doe the necessity for skin treatments. Keeping the hands busy is a helpful treatment. There are various finger toys that are available in the Internet, one of them is a koosh ball.

Posted in: Dermatillomania,Skin Picking