The goal of the proposed study is to evaluate the comparative efficacy of N-acetyl cysteine
to placebo in pathologic skin picking. Thirty subjects with pathologic skin picking will
receive 12 weeks of double-blind treatment with N-acetyl cysteine or matching placebo. The
hypothesis to be tested is that N-acetyl cysteine will be more effective than placebo in
patients with pathologic skin picking. The proposed study will provide needed data on the
treatment of an often disabling disorder that currently lacks a clearly effective treatment.