Children with Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB)
What are Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB) anyway?
BFRBs are when someone repeatedly touches, pulls, or picks at their skin or hair, sometimes causing themselves physical harm.
At one point or another we have seen someone bite their nails, twirl their hair, or maybe chew on their cheeks or lips... Although seeing this is common, for some kids, it is harder for them to stop these behaviors and it may become more problematic.
For kids the MOST COMMON types of BFRB are:
Skin Picking Disorder: causes people to repetitively touch, rub, scratch, pick at, or dig into their skin, resulting in skin discoloration or scarring
Hair-Pulling Disorder: causes people to pull out the hair from their scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, and other parts of the body
Nail-biting Disorder: causes people to bite their nails past the nail bed and chew on cuticles until they hurt themselves, which may lead to soreness and infection
Some other BFRBs are: cheek and lip biting, nail picking, scab eating
How do you know when it’s a problem?
Body-focused behaviors are considered problematic for children when they are happening repeatedly over time and they result in negative physical, social, or emotional consequences.
Good news, there is help!!
Treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or habit reversal training (HRT) has been shown to be very helpful for children with body-focused repetitive behaviors!
You can find more information and resources at: http://www.bfrb.org/index.php
What are Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB) anyway?
BFRBs are when someone repeatedly touches, pulls, or picks at their skin or hair, sometimes causing themselves physical harm.
At one point or another we have seen someone bite their nails, twirl their hair, or maybe chew on their cheeks or lips... Although seeing this is common, for some kids, it is harder for them to stop these behaviors and it may become more problematic.
For kids the MOST COMMON types of BFRB are:
Skin Picking Disorder: causes people to repetitively touch, rub, scratch, pick at, or dig into their skin, resulting in skin discoloration or scarring
Hair-Pulling Disorder: causes people to pull out the hair from their scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, and other parts of the body
Nail-biting Disorder: causes people to bite their nails past the nail bed and chew on cuticles until they hurt themselves, which may lead to soreness and infection
Some other BFRBs are: cheek and lip biting, nail picking, scab eating
How do you know when it’s a problem?
Body-focused behaviors are considered problematic for children when they are happening repeatedly over time and they result in negative physical, social, or emotional consequences.
Good news, there is help!!
Treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or habit reversal training (HRT) has been shown to be very helpful for children with body-focused repetitive behaviors!
You can find more information and resources at: http://www.bfrb.org/index.php
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