Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is characterized by hypotonia at birth, hypogonadism, early childhood obesity, and mental deficiency. Other behavioral symptoms that become prominent during adolescence and adulthood include temper outbursts, stealing and hoarding food, and skin picking. The self-excoriating skin picking behavior observed in individuals with PWS is quite common and can lead to persistent sores and infections, even requiring hospitalization.
Observation: Two patients with PWS who displayed repetitive, self-mutilatory behavior of skin picking are described. They were both treated successfully with different doses of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
Conclusions: The skin-picking behavior in patients with PWS may be a variant of the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorders. Obsessive-compulsive disorders have been successfully treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine. Thus, fluoxetine may be considered an option in the management of skin-picking behavior in patients with PWS.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Skin Picking Disorder: A Canadian Retrospective Study of 83 Patients.
J Cutan Med Surg
January 2025
Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
Background: Skin picking disorder (SPD) is classified as a primary psychodermatologic disorder, in which lesions are self-induced. It is frequently encountered by dermatologists, but the management is still a source of discomfort for the majority.
Objectives: The first objective is to determine the characteristics of the SPD patients in our centre: the demographics, the psychiatric comorbidities, clinical and histopathological characteristics of SPD patients, treatments and follow-up.
[Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Disorders: Classification, Diagnosis and Treatment].
Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol
December 2024
Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) such as trichotillomania and skin picking are disorders at the interface of psychiatry/psychology, dermatology and dentistry. The disorders can be both either a consequence or a cause of severe somatic disorders. If BFRBs remain undetected and untreated, they tend to become chronic with at times serious somatic complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnxiety and body-focused repetitive behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of comorbidity rates and symptom associations.
J Psychiatr Res
November 2024
Loyola University of Chicago, Department of Psychology, Chicago, IL, USA.
Article Synopsis
- - The study explores the relationship between body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) disorders, like trichotillomania and skin picking, and anxiety disorders, finding that comorbidity is common, with notable prevalence rates for various anxiety disorders.
- - A meta-analysis of 119 studies revealed that current and lifetime prevalence rates for anxiety disorders among individuals with BFRBs are significant, such as 19.2% for generalized anxiety disorder and 27.5% for any anxiety disorder.
- - Although comorbid anxiety is frequent in BFRB cases, the correlation between anxiety severity and BFRB severity is only low to moderate, indicating a complex relationship that warrants further research and consideration in clinical practice. *
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!