Memantine effective for Trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder

Memantine therapy had a reasonably high effectiveness and was well tolerated in individuals with Trichotillomania and skin-picking condition, says an article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Underrecognized and frequently crippling disorders like trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder cause people to pluck or pick at their skin or hair repeatedly, causing obvious hair loss or tissue damage. There are very few evidence-based therapies available for these illnesses as of right now. Jon Grant and crew conducted this study to see if memantine, a glutamate modulator, may reduce hair pulling and skin picking better than a placebo.

In a double-blind study with memantine (dosing range, 10-20 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks, 100 persons with trichotillomania or skin-picking disorder (86 women; mean age, 31.4 years [SD=10.2]) were included. Measures of the intensity of the tugging and plucking were used to evaluate the participants. An analysis of the outcomes was done using a linear mixed-effects model. The NIMH Trichotillomania Symptom Severity Scale was amended to include skin picking as the major outcome measure, and treatment-related improvement on this scale represented success.