Decoupling for body-focused repetitive behaviors
Decoupling is a self-help technique developed for body-focused and related behaviors such as trichotillomania, onychophagia and skin picking. The affected person is instructed to modify the original dysfunctional behavioral path by performing a counter-movement shortly before completing the self-injurious behavior. This is intended to trigger an irritation, which enables the person to detect and stop the compulsive behavior at an early stage. A systematic review from 2012 confirmed the efficacy of decoupling, which was corroborated by Lee et al. in 2019.
A manual on technique for reduction has been produced in five languages by the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf's neuropsychology unit.
