What Causes Trichotillomania?

Relation To Dermatillomania

Dermatillomania, otherwise known as excoriation disorder, is a mental health disorder in which patients pick at their skin. Symptoms include recurring skin picking that results in injury, repeated attempts to cease, and significant impairment or distress related to the symptoms. These symptoms are also not caused by another medical condition or psychiatric issue. In one study of individuals with dermatillomania, an estimated thirty-eight percent of patients also had trichotillomania. The co-occurrence of these disorders may be because compulsive skin picking and hair pulling are both body-related behaviors that produce the same reactions in the brain. It's unclear whether dermatillomania and trichotillomania usually develop simultaneously, or whether having one predisposes an individual to developing the other later in life.