Dermatillomania Test (Skin Picking): See the Severity and Impact of Skin Picking
This dermatillomania test screens skin picking severity and its impact using an adapted SPS-R. Get instant severity and impairment scores to help you discuss concerns with a clinician.
Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW 
Dermatillomania Test (Skin Picking) is a free, confidential 8-question self-assessment, based on the SPS-R. It takes about 9 minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and gives you a plain-language score across 3 interpretation bands plus an optional in-depth report. It is an educational screening, not a diagnosis.
How much picking is happening, and how much it costs you
Skin picking has two sides: the urges and time the behavior itself takes, and the damage, shame, and avoidance it leaves behind. The SPS-R measures both, because they don't always move together. This skin picking disorder test, based on the SPS-R, asks about the past week only, so your result reflects where things stand right now rather than your whole history with picking.
The full SPS-R
Eight items covering urge frequency, urge intensity, time spent picking, control, skin damage, distress, avoidance, and interference with daily life. Each is rated from 0 to 4, for a total of 0 to 32.
Severity and impairment
The SPS-R splits into two subscales of four items each. Severity captures the urges and the behavior itself; impairment captures the damage, distress, and avoidance that follow. Each is scored 0 to 16.
The past week
The scale asks about the last seven days, so your result reflects where the picking is right now rather than your worst stretch or your whole history.
| Feature | Typical free quiz | Psychology.com |
|---|---|---|
| Research-validated SPS-R items | Rarely | Yes, all 8 items |
| Severity and impairment subscales | No | Yes, scored separately |
| Honest about screening cutoffs | Vague labels | Yes, clearly explained |
| Clinician-reviewed interpretation | Rarely | Yes, clinician reviewed |
| Optional in-depth personalized report | No | Yes, written to your exact scores |
| Confidential (no data sent) | Often tracked | Runs in your browser |
How scoring works
Answers are scored 0–32 in total. Your result falls into one of 3 bands:
| Score | Band | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| 0–7 | Few signs of problematic picking | Your answers suggest little or no problematic skin picking over the past week. Occasional picking at a scab or rough patch is common and usually nothing to worry about. |
| 8–15 | Mild to moderate picking signs | Your answers suggest skin picking is a real presence in your week, whether through urges, time, damage, or the effort of hiding it. This is a good moment to pay attention. |
| 16–32 | Significant picking signs | Your answers suggest skin picking is taking a substantial toll, in urges and time and in damage, distress, or avoidance. That deserves real support, not more willpower. |
How the SPS-R Is Scored
This dermatillomania test summarizes skin picking urges, behavior, and their impact on daily life. It uses an adaptation of the Skin Picking Scale-Revised to support self-reflection and a conversation with a clinician. Your result cannot establish whether you have excoriation disorder. Each of the eight items is rated from Not at all (0) to Extremely (4) based on the past week. The first four items make up the severity subscale, covering urge frequency, urge intensity, time spent picking, and control. The last four make up the impairment subscale, covering skin damage, distress, avoidance, and interference with daily life. Each subscale runs from 0 to 16, and the two combine into a total SPS-R score from 0 to 32.
This screener sorts that total into three bands: few signs of problematic picking (0 to 7), mild to moderate picking signs (8 to 15), and significant picking signs (16 to 32). Because the published research on the SPS-R uses a range of cutoffs rather than one agreed line, these bands are educational guides for reflection, not a diagnostic threshold. The subscale split matters as much as the total: a high severity score with low impairment suggests an active but contained loop, while rising impairment suggests the picking has started to cost you socially or physically.
The result bands belong to this website and have not been established as diagnostic cutoffs for this adapted questionnaire. A low total should not outweigh an open wound, trouble stopping, or distress about your skin. When reviewing the result, describe what happened during a typical picking episode and which activities you have avoided. These details give a clinician context that a total alone cannot provide.
Common Triggers Behind Skin Picking
Triggers usually fall into a few overlapping categories. Emotional triggers include stress, boredom, anxiety, and frustration, where picking briefly discharges tension. Sensory triggers include the feel of a bump, dry patch, or ingrown hair, and the pull to make skin feel smooth or even. Situational triggers include specific settings, such as sitting at a mirror, a desk, or in a car, where hands are idle and attention drifts. Cognitive triggers include perfectionism about the skin's appearance, where one imperfection feels intolerable until it is picked at.
Most people have a personal mix rather than a single trigger, and the mix can shift with stress levels or skin condition. Naming your own pattern, rather than assuming picking is simply a bad habit, is what makes a plan like habit reversal training or the ComB model effective, since each trigger type responds to a slightly different competing response or environmental change. The Urge Surfing tool teaches a specific skill for riding out the urge itself once it hits, which pairs well with trigger tracking.
When to See a Professional About Skin Picking
Consider reaching out if picking is causing visible damage that is not healing, if you are avoiding social situations, swimming, or intimacy because of your skin, or if hiding the picking has started to feel exhausting in itself. None of these need to reach a crisis point first. A therapist experienced with body-focused repetitive behaviors can teach habit reversal training directly, and a dermatologist can treat damaged skin and address any underlying condition, such as acne or eczema, that may be feeding the loop.
The Psychology.com therapist directory is a straightforward place to start looking for someone with BFRB experience. If picking is tangled up with thoughts of self-harm or feels unmanageable, or if you are in any kind of crisis, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is free and available any time by call or text in the US.
Seek medical advice for cuts that do not heal or skin damage that worries you, even if the screening result seems low. Before an appointment, you might note where picking happens, what your hands are doing beforehand, and whether you notice the urge before or only after an episode. You can ask directly about care for both the skin and the behavior, without needing to explain everything perfectly.
Which Other Self-Assessments May Be Relevant?
The Psychology.com tests hub offers related self-assessments if you want to explore another concern. The Trichotillomania Test (Hair Pulling) addresses hair pulling, while the OCD Test (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) explores intrusive thoughts and compulsions. Choose the concern that actually affects your life; taking more tests does not confirm a diagnosis. Urge Surfing can be a place to practice noticing an urge while you arrange support for picking that causes injury or distress.
Methodology & sources
The eight questions are adapted from the Skin Picking Scale-Revised (SPS-R), developed by Snorrason and colleagues (2012) as a refinement of the original Skin Picking Scale and used widely in research on excoriation disorder. Each item asks about the past week and is rated from 0 to 4, giving a total from 0 to 32 across two four-item subscales: severity (urge frequency, urge intensity, time spent picking, and control) and impairment (skin damage, emotional distress, avoidance, and interference with daily life). The original scale uses slightly different response anchors for each item; we present all items as statements rated on a single 0 to 4 scale so the test reads smoothly, with wording adjusted for readability while preserving the meaning of the validated items.
This test is provided for education and self-reflection, not diagnosis. Research on the SPS-R uses a range of cutoffs rather than one agreed threshold, so our bands are educational guides rather than clinical lines: lower totals suggest few signs of problematic picking, middle totals suggest a pattern worth attention, and higher totals suggest picking is taking a real toll. Only a licensed clinician can diagnose excoriation disorder, and because skin conditions can start or maintain the picking loop, a dermatologist can be part of the picture too.
The original SPS-R study supports the source instrument, rather than separately validating the wording and shared response anchors used on this page. Changes in item wording or response options can affect how people answer. Bring examples of skin damage, avoidance, and difficulty stopping to an assessment instead of using the score as proof of a condition.
References
- Snorrason I, Ólafsson RP, Flessner CA, Keuthen NJ, Franklin ME, Woods DW. The Skin Picking Scale-Revised: factor structure and psychometric properties. J Obsessive Compuls Relat Disord. 2012;1(2):133-137. doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2012.03.001
- Grant JE, Odlaug BL, Chamberlain SR, Keuthen NJ, Lochner C, Stein DJ. Skin picking disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2012;169(11):1143-1149. doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12040508
- Keuthen NJ, Wilhelm S, Deckersbach T, et al. The Skin Picking Scale: scale construction and psychometric analyses. J Psychosom Res. 2001;50(6):337-341. doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3999(01)00215-x
- Teng EJ, Woods DW, Twohig MP. Habit reversal as a treatment for chronic skin picking: a pilot investigation. Behav Modif. 2006;30(4):411-422. doi.org/10.1177/0145445504265707
- NHS. Skin picking disorder. nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/skin-picking-disorder/
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 27). Dermatillomania Test (Skin Picking). Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tests/dermatillomania
Dermatillomania Test (Skin Picking) FAQ
Is skin picking a real mental health condition?
Yes. Excoriation (skin picking) disorder is a recognized mental health condition involving repeated picking that damages the skin and causes distress or difficulty in daily life. A clinician also considers attempts to stop and possible skin or other health conditions. Occasional picking alone does not establish the disorder, and an online dermatillomania test cannot make that distinction for you.
Why can't I just stop picking?
Because picking runs on a habit loop, not willpower. A trigger such as stress, boredom, or the feel of a rough patch of skin sets off an urge, the picking brings brief relief or satisfaction, and that relief teaches the brain to repeat the cycle. Much of it happens automatically, without full awareness, while some is focused and deliberate. Treatment works by rewiring the loop, which is why trying harder rarely fixes it on its own.
What is the difference between dermatillomania and trichotillomania?
They are sister conditions. Dermatillomania is compulsive skin picking and trichotillomania is compulsive hair pulling. Both are body-focused repetitive behaviors, both live in the same diagnostic family, both carry heavy shame, and both respond to the same core treatment, habit reversal training. Many people experience elements of both.
What is habit reversal training?
Habit reversal training (HRT) is the best-studied treatment for skin picking. It teaches you to notice the early warning signs of an episode, then perform a competing response, a small action that is incompatible with picking, until the urge passes. Modern versions like the ComB model add work on the triggers behind the picking, whether sensory, emotional, or situational. It is practical, skills-based, and it has real evidence behind it.
Does skin picking ever go away?
Skin picking can improve with appropriate support, although symptoms may fluctuate and individual responses to treatment differ. Habit reversal training helps people recognize triggers and practice responses that compete with picking. Care for underlying skin conditions may also help reduce triggers. If picking returns, discuss what changed with your clinician and adjust the plan rather than treating a difficult period as evidence that help cannot work.
Is this the same thing as OCD?
It is related but distinct. In OCD, compulsions are usually driven by intrusive thoughts and fears, like contamination or harm. Skin picking is usually driven by urges, tension, or the sensory pull of the skin itself, often without a scary thought behind it. If unwanted intrusive thoughts and rituals to neutralize them sound more like your experience, our OCD test may be a better fit.
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