Near-fatal skin-picking due to obsessive compulsive disorder responding to combined fluoxetine and cognitivebehavioral therapy: A case report

Pathological skin-picking has been reported to be associated with major psychiatric disorders. The most common comorbid psychiatric diseases found in patients with skin-picking were major depression and anxiety disorders (especially obsessive-compulsive disorder). Skin-picking may also lead to medical complications. We describe a 40-year-old, married woman with compulsive skin-picking who developed the dangerously selfdestructive habit of squeezing or digging debris out of skin tissue and picking at acne and scabs on her forehead, cheeks and chin. The patient was successfully treated with a combination of fluoxetine and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy.