The Hidden Loop

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What's the problem?

Dermatillomania and other BFRBs affect up to 24% of the population, yet fewer than 30% of those affected seek treatment due to stigma and lack of awareness. These disorders are linked to severe outcomes, including 40% reporting suicidal ideation and over 45% experiencing depression. Physically, they can cause chronic skin damage, scarring, and even infections (with 6% of severe cases requiring surgery) yet they’re still rarely discussed in health education or clinical settings.

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Our Solution

We believe BFRBs should be taught in health class as early as middle school, just like substance abuse or eating disorders. By introducing accurate, stigma-free education early on, students can recognize the signs in themselves or others before these behaviors become deeply ingrained. Normalizing the conversation empowers teens to seek help sooner, reducing lifelong damage and breaking the cycle of shameful silence.

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with experts like

Dr. Clare Mackay

Dr. Clare Mackay is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and one of the leading voices pushing BFRBs into mainstream brain science. She has redirected her expertise in imaging and psychiatric neuroscience toward BFRBs, publishing work that anchors these conditions in identifiable neural circuits and evolutionary threat-response systems. She helped lead the Oxford BFRB conference, a pivotal gathering that brought researchers and clinicians together to advance brain-based studies of these disorders. Paired with her lived experience and public advocacy as “thetrichprof,” Mackay is rapidly becoming a central force driving rigorous neuroscience, funding, and legitimacy for BFRBs.

as well as...

Dr. Gregory Chasson

Dr. Gregory S. Chasson is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Chicago whose work has made him a leading expert on body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). He has spent nearly twenty years treating hair pulling, skin picking, and related disorders using gold-standard behavioral approaches like habit reversal training and the Comprehensive Behavioral Model. His research (including dozens of peer-reviewed studies and grant-funded projects) has helped establish the cognitive, behavioral, and motivational mechanisms that drive BFRBs and clarified how they overlap with OCD-spectrum conditions. As a board-certified CBT therapist, author, and editor shaping the field’s clinical standards, Chasson remains one of the most influential voices advancing evidence-based care for people with BFRBs.