Pick, Tear, Heal, Repeat

Excoriation disorder, which is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that is commonly known as the skin picking disorder or dermatillomania. People who have dermatillomania would constantly feel the urge to pick the uneven parts of their skin, including callosities on their hands or feets and bumps on their face. Since the skin picking behavior would result in wounds, sores and scars, patients often feel ashamed to show their picking spots and talk about their behavior with others. Such anxiety towards imperfect skin condition would worsen this obsessive behavior. Patients with dermatillomania would pick their skin unconsciously, and most describe that skin picking is a process that helps them relax and “zoom out”.

Why dermatillomania:

It is a mental illness that is not commonly mentioned by main-stream media. Many people are suffering from this illness without knowing the exact term of it. And they don’t know how to help themselves and others to stop skin picking since the appearance of their skin is often mis-diagnosed as other skin problems caused by fungus or virus. I myself am a victim of this mental illness. I didn’t know that obsessive skin picking behavior should be treated carefully rather than simply forcing myself to stop. I understand the struggle that people go through when they are trying to stop but just can not help themselves. Therefore, I decided to make this interactive story about dermatillomania and use choice design to let the audience experience the struggle and raise awareness of this mental disease. 

Dev: Xinyue Zhang

Script: Xinyue Zhang