Dermatitis artefacta: A consequence of self-mutilating behavior in a girl with intellectual disability

Intellectual disability (mental retardation) is a common mental health morbidity, worldwide. These groups of individuals are often a neglected cluster in the society. Intellectual disability often disables their ability to express their needs and distress, which becomes more evident with increasing severity of intellectual disability. Individuals with intellectual disability may show challenging behaviors such as self-injurious behavior. Dermatitis artefacta may result from repeated self-injurious behavior, which may mimic with various dermatologic conditions. Improvement in self-injurious behavior may bring improvement in the skin lesions.