Photo Credit: Tunatura

The following is a summary of “Dissociation in skin picking disorder and trichotillomania,” published in the April 2025 issue of Frontiers in Psychiatry by Crisp and Grant. 

Dissociation is a disruption in awareness or perception linked to several psychiatric disorders. It may contribute to trichotillomania and skin picking disorder. 

Researchers conducted a prospective study to examine the link between dissociation and trichotillomania or skin picking disorder.  

They enrolled 370 adults (aged 18–65) with trichotillomania, skin picking disorder, or both through an online survey. Participants completed questionnaires on demographics, clinical features, comorbidities, medications, suicidality, Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB), Generic BFRB Scale-8 (GBS-8) and the dissociative experience scale (DES); regression analysis examined the relationship between DES and GBS-8 scores. 

The results showed DES scores significantly predicted GBS-8 impairment scores, suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicide attempts. 

Investigators found that dissociation was strongly linked to greater impairment, increased suicidal ideation, and worse clinical outcomes in individuals with trichotillomania or skin picking disorder. They suggested that addressing dissociation may help improve overall treatment outcomes in this population. 

Source: frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1490785/full