Temperament in trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.

Background: Trichotillomania (TTM) and skin picking disorder (SPD) result in significant psychosocial burden. Despite this burden, however, risk factors related to the development of these disorders remain unclear. The present study assessed temperament in a well-characterized sample of adults with TTM or SPD.

Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study of Memantine in Trichotillomania and Skin-Picking Disorder.

Objective: Trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder are underrecognized and often disabling conditions in which individuals repeatedly pull at their hair or pick at their skin, leading to noticeable hair loss or tissue damage. To date there is a severe paucity of evidence-based treatments for these conditions. In this study, the authors sought to determine whether memantine, a glutamate modulator, is more effective than placebo in reducing hair-pulling and skin-picking behavior.

Clinical Characteristics of Youth with Trichotillomania (Hair-Pulling Disorder) and Excoriation (Skin-Picking) Disorder.

Body-focused repetitive disorders (BFRBDs) are understudied in youth and understanding of their underlying mechanisms is limited. This study evaluated BFRBD clinical characteristics, and two factors commonly implicated in their maintenance - emotion regulation and impulsivity - in 53 youth aged 11 to 17 years: 33 with BFRBDs and 20 controls. Evaluators administered psychiatric diagnostic interviews.

Characteristics and treatment seeking in an adult Hispanic population with trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.

This study reports on characteristics of trichotillomania (TTM) and skin picking disorder (SPD) in an international Hispanic sample of adults. The survey was distributed online globally to a Hispanic population with TTM and SPD. 166 Hispanic adults with TTM (n = 127) or SPD (n = 39) reported moderate levels of symptom severity and low or very low quality of life.

Comorbid trichotillomania and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults.

Background: Individuals with trichotillomania (TTM), a disorder characterized by repetitive pulling out of one's own hair, often have co-occurring ADHD, but little is known about this comorbidity. Additionally, there have been intimations in the literature that treatment of ADHD with stimulants may worsen TTM symptoms. This study aims to examine clinical aspects of individuals with TTM and co-occurring ADHD.

Cortical dopamine reduces the impact of motivational biases governing automated behaviour.

Motivations shape our behaviour: the promise of reward invigorates, while in the face of punishment, we hold back. Abnormalities of motivational processing are implicated in clinical disorders characterised by excessive habits and loss of top-down control, notably substance and behavioural addictions. Striatal and frontal dopamine have been hypothesised to play complementary roles in the respective generation and control of these motivational biases.

Quality of life in trichotillomania: An assessment of specific life domains.

Background: The Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) gauges importance and satisfaction ratings in areas of life such as work, health, and family. An examination of QOLI scores among individuals with trichotillomania (TTM), a hair-pulling disorder, might provide insight on domain-specific interventions to counteract factors that may be contributing to lower quality-of-life (QOL) scores.

Methods: Three hundred thirty-three adults with TTM and 90 healthy controls (age 18 to 65) completed the QOLI and various symptom severity measures.

A double-blind placebo-controlled study of brexpiprazole for the treatment of borderline personality disorder.

Background: Borderline personality disorder is associated with impaired quality of life and has a number of untoward public health associations. There is no established first-line pharmacological treatment for borderline personality disorder, and available options are not suitable for all individuals.

Aims: To evaluate brexpiprazole, which has effects on the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems, for the reduction of borderline personality disorder symptoms.

Nutrition in Skin Picking Disorder and Trichotillomania.

Excessive calorie intake constitutes a global public health concern, due to its associated range of untoward outcomes. Impulsivity and compulsivity have been linked to dietary intake. However, nothing is known about dietary intake and body-focused repetitive behaviors, despite their classification as obsessive-compulsive related conditions, and high co-morbidity with impulsive and compulsive conditions.

Tetrahydrocannabinol fails to reduce hair pulling or skin picking: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of dronabinol.

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) such as trichotillomania and skin picking disorder are associated with decreased self-esteem and poor quality of life. The objective of this study was to evaluate dronabinol, a cannabinoid agonist, for the reduction of BFRB symptoms. Fifty adults with either trichotillomania (n = 34) or skin picking disorder (n = 16) were recruited for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Parental Bonding in Trichotillomania and Skin Picking Disorder.

Background: One means of understanding the effect of environmental factors on psychiatric disorders is by examining perceived parenting behavior in the childhood of individuals with trichotillomania and skin picking disorder (i.e. body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs)).

Clinical presentation of body-focused repetitive behaviors in minority ethnic groups.

Background: Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), such as trichotillomania and skin picking disorder, are psychiatric disorders characterized by repetitive grooming that result in hair loss or excoriations. Questions remain as to whether there are racial/ethnic differences in the clinical presentation of BFRBs.

Methods: We recruited 539 adults with DSM-5 trichotillomania or skin picking disorder.

Tolcapone in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial.

Despite the availability of evidence-based treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), not all patients experience sufficient benefit or are able to tolerate them. Tolcapone is a catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) enzyme inhibitor that augments cortical dopaminergic transmission. Conduct a proof of concept study to examine whether a COMT inhibitor would reduce OCD symptoms to a greater extent than placebo.

Sleep quality and its clinical associations in trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.

Background: Trichotillomania (TTM) is characterized by recurrent hair pulling and associated hair loss. Skin picking disorder (SPD) is characterized by recurrent skin picking and associated scarring or tissue damage. Both disorders are also accompanied by psychological distress and poor sleep.

Problematic internet use: an exploration of associations between cognition and COMT rs4818, rs4680 haplotypes.

Objective: Problematic internet users suffer from impairment in a variety of cognitive domains. Research suggests that COMT haplotypes exert differential effects on cognition. We sought to investigate differences in the genetic profiles of problematic internet users and whether those could shed light on potential cognitive differences.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of vortioxetine in the treatment of binge-eating disorder.

Background: Binge-eating disorder (BED) is associated with impaired quality of life and has a number of untoward public health associations. There are few established pharmacological treatments for BED, and available options are not suitable for all individuals. Vortioxetine is a recently developed pharmacological agent with effects on the serotonergic but also other neurochemical systems, which has yet to be evaluated in this context.