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Insights into recurrent body-focused repetitive behaviors: evidenced by New York Times commenters

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Abstract

In September 2019, the New York Times (NYT) published the article “Fighting the Shame of Skin Picking,” which discussed the cosmetic, social and emotional impacts of body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). BFRBs, including excoriation disorder, trichotillomania, onychotillomania, and onychophagia, are recurring actions that damage one’s physical appearance. The aim of this study is to characterize the demographic information provided and themes raised in the 166 comments posted in response to the article. The most commonly reported condition was skin picking (38.2%), followed by trichotillomania and/or trichophagia (30.3%), onychotillomania (24.7%), and onychophagia (23.6%). All conditions had a female predominance. Treatment of body-focused repetitive behaviors was the most common topic of discussion, followed by shame and impact on appearance. Since commenters described significant impairments to quality of life, larger randomized controlled trials on skin picking, trichotillomania, onychophagia, and onychotillomania are necessary to provide evidence-based management to patients.

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Abbreviations

BFRB:

Body-focused repetitive behaviors

CI:

Confidence interval

NAC:

N-Acetylcysteine

NYT :

The New York Times

OR:

Odds ratio

SNRI:

Serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors

SSRI:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Claire Stewart

  2. Department of Dermatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Ave, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Shari R. Lipner

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  1. Claire Stewart
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Correspondence to Shari R. Lipner.

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Claire Stewart and Dr. Lipner have no conflicts of interest related to the content of this manuscript.

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Stewart, C., Lipner, S.R. Insights into recurrent body-focused repetitive behaviors: evidenced by New York Times commenters. Arch Dermatol Res 312, 629–634 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-020-02045-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-020-02045-6

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