Trichotillomania and skin-picking: A phenomenological comparison

Abstract

Although trichotillomania and pathological skin‐picking are both characterized by repetitive self‐injurious stereotypic behaviors, the former is classified as an impulse control disorder, while the latter is not given a specific diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition) [APA, 1994]. There are, however, few empirical data on phenomenological similarities and differences between these disorders. Patients with trichotillomania and pathological skin‐picking were compared in terms of several demographic (age, gender), clinical (comorbid axis I and II disorders), and personality variables. Trichotillomania and pathological skin‐picking were very similar in demographics, psychiatric comorbidity, and personality dimensions. Dissociative symptoms may be more common in trichotillomania than in pathological skin‐picking. These data support the concept of phenomenological overlap between trichotillomania and pathological skin‐picking. Future work to assess the implications of overlap for clinical evaluation and intervention in the two conditions may be useful. Depression and Anxiety 15:83–86, 2002.