Skin Picking (Dermatillomania) Hypnosis

by Bob Walsh

One of the reasons why it is so difficult to stop skin picking (also known as dermatillomania) is because it’s something that happens without you thinking about it. It’s a subconscious habit, your body is kind of doing it on autopilot most of the time. That’s why hypnosis for dermatillomania is such an effective treatment.

Stop Skin Picking Hypnosis Download

Dermatillomania is more common than most people think – surveys showed that about 4% of all college students engage in compulsive skin picking. Yet, it’s not widely known because most people keep their skin picking habit a secret.

The first thing people do when they want to stop skin picking is to try to use their willpower. But this isn’t working – because willpower is a limited psychological resource that can easily be depleted1. That’s the “cold turkey” approach to quit skin picking,

Ultimately it is really a skin picking addiction that you have, and addictions exert a strong power over us, a strong chain of habit that is hard to break.

Why Stop Picking?

There are plenty of good reasons. It damages your skin. It can lead to more serious health conditions. It has negative effects on your psyche and your self-image. It makes you insecure and you spend too much time and mental resources on it, time and resources that you could invest in pursuing your goals or just having a good time.

Compulsive Skin Picking Hypnosis

How To Stop Picking Your Skin?

Many people try to use medication for dermatillomania. There are three main categories of drugs used:

  • SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
    No large double-blind placebo-controlled scientific trial has shown whether SSRIs are effective or not as a dermatillomania treatment.
  • opioid antagonists
    No studies have shown whether this is an effective approach. The only research we are aware of is a study with dogs where opioid antagonists can reduce self-chewing.
  • glutamateric agents
Since the real problem is not physiological but psychological, medication often provides short-term relief of certain symptoms related to skin picking, but it’s not an effective long-term solution.

Many experts agree that psychological treatments are superior to pharmacological dermatillomania treatments, also because with psychological approaches there is a much lower relapse risk.

Cognitive behavior therapy can be one approach to reduce pathological skin-picking behaviour that has been proven effective2. The downside is that this method is expensive and time-consuming – a patient must actively seek out a behavior therapist and see him regularly for therapy sessions which can add up a lot of money. The effectiveness also depends on the therapists skill level in treating dermatillomania.

Dermatillomania hypnosis can help you to stop skin picking without having to see a therapist, because you can simply listen to the hypnotic suggestions in the comfort of your own home. And the best of all, you can get started right now:

Dermatillomania Hypnosis Download

  1. Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: Willpower is more than a metaphor. Gailliot, Matthew T.; Baumeister, Roy F.; DeWall, C. Nathan; Maner, Jon K.; Plant, E. Ashby; Tice, Dianne M.; Brewer, Lauren E.; Schmeichel, Brandon J.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 92(2), Feb 2007, 325-336. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.92.2.325 [↩]
  2. Kathrin Schuck, Ger P.J. Keijsers, Mike Rinck, The effects of brief cognitive-behaviour therapy for pathological skin picking: A randomized comparison to wait-list control, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Received 6 April 2010. Revised 2 September 2010. Accepted 13 September 2010. Available online 22 September 2010, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.09.005 [↩]