Lamotrigine

A recent study from the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry shows that patients suffering from compulsive skin picking (aka dermatillomania) and compulsive finger picking — especially in cases severe enough to result in self injury — may be helped by the drug Lamotrigine.

Lamotrigine — which is marketed as Lamictal by GlaxoSmithKline and is commonly used to treat Epilepsy and Bipolar Disorder — may reduce compulsive behavior and improve social functioning. The study found that subjects whose skin picking was “automatic” tended to have milder symptoms, suggesting that behavioral therapy may be sufficient treatment for their symptoms. Those with strong urges to pick may benefit from lamotrigine treatment.

This is a unique breakthrough in treating obsessive-compulsive disorders such as Compulsive Skin Picking and other associated psychological disorders (e.g. Impulse Control Disorder, Trichotillomania). The real difference in this case is that a drug like Lamotrigine — which is used to treat unrelated disorders such as bipolar disorder — is shown to positively affect compulsive finger picking. This suggests that other drugs, beside the antidepressant drugs usually prescribed for compulsive picking behaviors, may possibly have an equally positive effect. Time will only tell…