Excoriation disorder

Sophia, a 20-year-old university student, recently visited her university’s mental health center for help with her problems with skin picking. According to Sophia, whenever she was stressed or bored, she felt compelled to pick at certain spots on her arms and scalp, sometimes unconsciously, until they were raw and bleeding. Even though it hurt, she admitted, picking at her skin felt like a heavy tension being lifted from her shoulders. She had numerous scars, scabs, and small open wounds, and usually wore long sleeves to hide the physical evidence, or avoided going to social events in fear of being judged. Her first memory of skin picking was in middle school, but her symptoms remained relatively absent through most of high school. Sophia said that it had come back full force once she started college, and she didn’t want to get help at first because she felt embarrassed and ashamed of her skin picking, and thought she could handle it herself. She tried multiple times to stop but nothing ever worked, so she finally turned to the mental health center despite her doubt that any treatment would help. According to her psychologist, she had low self-confidence and was also struggling with anxiety about her classes and family problems. Sophia was later diagnosed with excoriation disorder.