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Clinical Atlas Prestige · Evidence-first

Psych VivasGeneral adult psychiatry — OCRD / BFRB

Psych Vivas · General adult psychiatry — OCRD / BFRB

Trichotillomania and excoriation disorder — structured clinical viva

Fellowship viva on BFRB treatment hierarchy, HRT fidelity, NAC RCTs, olanzapine cautions, and medical complications.

clinical
On this page & tools

Target exams

FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNB

Target exams

FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNB
Prompt
You are the psychiatry registrar. A 31-year-old woman with longstanding scalp and eyelash trichotillomania plus facial skin-picking has failed 'CBT' that was supportive talk without habit reversal. She takes fluoxetine 20 mg. She wants olanzapine 'like for tics' after reading online, and declines therapy 'because meds should fix it.' She admits swallowing hair. Discuss diagnosis within OCRD, differentials, adequacy of prior treatment, first-line psychological care, NAC evidence including paediatric caveat if relevant to family questions, olanzapine metabolic trade-offs, and trichobezoar risk.

Interpretation

Reveal interpretation

This is co-occurring trichotillomania and excoriation disorder within the OCRD/BFRB spectrum, not “failed OCD” unless multi-theme OCD is separately demonstrated. Supportive talk is not HRT; fluoxetine 20 mg is not an adequate BFRB pharmacologic trial and does not replace behaviour therapy. Meta-analytic data favour behaviour therapy over SRI for core hair-pulling.[4][6]

First-line plan: engage with specialised HRT (awareness, competing response, stimulus control), with ACT-enhanced or ComB packages where available. Pharmacologically, discuss adult NAC (Grant 2009 TTM; Grant 2016 SPD) toward 1200–2400 mg/day oral if she wants medication with better BFRB-specific RCT support than low-dose SSRI alone. If she asks about children/family members, cite Bloch 2013 paediatric NAC null — do not oversell NAC in youth.[1][2][3]

Olanzapine demand. There is a small positive RCT (Van Ameringen 2010), but metabolic adverse effects make it a specialist later option, not a preferred first medication over HRT and NAC discussion.[5][6]

Trichophagia. Explicitly assess abdominal symptoms and arrange urgent medical review if obstruction features; educate about trichobezoar risk even if currently asymptomatic.[6]

Key points

HRT fidelity first

Supportive CBT without habit reversal is not an adequate psychological trial.

Adult NAC evidence

Grant TTM and SPD RCTs support NAC dosing in the 1200–2400 mg/day range for many adults.

Olanzapine trade-off

Possible benefit, clear metabolic cost — not first-line over BT.
[1] [3] [5] [6]

References

  1. [1]Grant JE, Odlaug BL, Kim SW N-acetylcysteine, a glutamate modulator, in the treatment of trichotillomania: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2009.PMID 19581567
  2. [2]Bloch MH, Panza KE, Grant JE, et al. N-Acetylcysteine in the treatment of pediatric trichotillomania: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled add-on trial J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 2013.PMID 23452680
  3. [3]Grant JE, Chamberlain SR, Redden SA, et al. N-Acetylcysteine in the Treatment of Excoriation Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial JAMA Psychiatry, 2016.PMID 27007062
  4. [4]McGuire JF, Ung D, Selles RR, et al. Treating trichotillomania: a meta-analysis of treatment effects and moderators for behavior therapy and serotonin reuptake inhibitors J Psychiatr Res, 2014.PMID 25108618
  5. [5]Van Ameringen M, Mancini C, Patterson B, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of olanzapine in the treatment of trichotillomania J Clin Psychiatry, 2010.PMID 20441724
  6. [6]Grant JE, Chamberlain SR Trichotillomania and Skin-Picking Disorder: An Update Focus (Am Psychiatr Publ), 2021.PMID 35747295