r/CompulsiveSkinPicking

27K archived posts · Jan 2012 – Sep 2026

Compulsive Skin Picking (CSP)

A place for people with Compulsive Skin Picking, their families, friends, and therapists who treat this condition to come together and exchange news about treatments, current events, and personal experiences. All posts are allowed here, including potentially triggering content. For a trigger friendly, text post only version of this community, please visit /r/Dermatillomania.

Created Jan 11, 2012

65KMembers (last snapshot)

27KArchived posts

Our Community

A place for people with Compulsive Skin Picking (CSP), their families, friends, and therapists who treat this condition to come together and exchange news about treatments, current events, and personal experiences.

All posts are allowed here, including potentially triggering content. For a trigger friendly, text post only version of this community, please visit r/Dermatillomania.

About CSP

People with CSP feel compelled to pick at real or perceived blemishes (acne, dry skin, callouses, or other textural anomalies); resisting these urges is akin to resisting the urge to cough or to scratch an itch.
CSP is an Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorder, and sometimes also referred to as dermatillomania. In the DSM-5, it is called "Excoriation (skin-picking) disorder".
Engaging in these compulsions can lead to pain, infections, scarring, and social stigma, as well as feelings of shame, guilt, and depression.
Treatments exist for CSP, and they involve hard work in therapy aimed at reducing the frequency and duration of picking episodes. Medications may help, but there are no cures.

Want to learn more?

Our wiki page contains in-depth information on CSP, tips for coping with CSP, and information for friends and family of people struggling with CSP.

CSP Links

Derm Support Network (blog)
Kims Journey To Life (blog)
[Dermotillomania To Life (blog)] (http://www.reddit.com/domain/dermotillomaniatolife.blogspot.ca/)
[Wikipedia's fairly thorough review of CSP] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatillomania)
OCD Center of Los Angeles

Unofficial Discord Servers

These are some discord servers users have created for chatting about CSP. They are not official, and we as mods have no control over the content of these Discord servers.
Dermatillomania Support (Thanks u/rumbleberrypie): https://discord.gg/KGJMQ2
Accountability Buddies (Thanks u/hazeax125): https://discord.gg/pVUATsy
r/CompulsiveSkinPicking (Thanks u/bluedinosaursocks): https://discord.gg/pVUATsy
If you have a discord we have not listed, send us a mod mail with the link and I will update the sidebar.

Related Communities

/r/CalmHands - A forum focused on a form of OCD called Compulsive Skin Picking.
[/r/Trichsters] (/r/trichsters) - A forum focused on trichotillomania, or compulsive hair-pulling.
[/r/Trichotillomania] (/r/trichotillomania/) - A forum focused on trichotillomania, or compulsive hair-pulling.
[/r/OCD] (/r/ocd) - A forum for people with any type of OCD.
/r/SkincareAddiction - Scientifically supported skincare advice and support.

Other communities

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