Excoriation disorder

Excoriation disorder, also called skin picking disorder or dermatillomania, is a mental disorder on the obsessive compulsive spectrum in which a person repeatedly picks at their own skin to the point of causing psychological distress or physical damage. Episodes are typically preceded by rising tension, anxiety or stress and followed by a sense of relief or satisfaction, and picking may be a conscious, focused act or a more automatic, unconscious habit performed during other activities. The face is the most commonly affected area, though the arms, legs and back are also frequently picked, and severe or prolonged cases can lead to infection, tissue damage, scarring and occasionally life threatening injury. The exact cause is not fully understood, but researchers believe it involves a combination of genetic vulnerability, dysfunction in the brain's dopamine and motor-inhibitory systems, and environmental factors such as stress, boredom and underlying anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder. It carries the ICD-10 code L98.1 and is formally recognized in the DSM-5 as excoriation, or skin picking, disorder.