"Shame on you": The impact of shame in body-focused repetitive behaviors and binge eating.

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), such as hair-pulling, skin-picking, and nail-biting, have been associated with difficulties in emotion regulation. Studies have suggested that aversive emotions are important triggers for impulsive behaviors such as BFRBs and binge eating. In particular, shame has been hypothesized to be a key emotion before and after these behaviors, but no experimental studies yet have investigated its impact on BFRBs. We aimed to evaluate the role of shame in BFRB and binge eating episodes and the presence of shame following these behaviors. Eighteen women with BFRBs, 18 with binge eating, and 18 community controls participated in the study. Results showed that an experimental shame condition triggered more shame in the binge eating and BFRB groups than in the control group. In addition, the shame induced condition increased the urge to engage in BFRBs, but not in binge eating. Results showed that participants from the BFRB and the binge eating groups reported more shame after engaging in their pathological behaviors compared to following the neutral condition. Future studies should replicate these findings with larger samples and different shame-inducing conditions.

[Tourette syndrome: Research challenges to improve clinical practice]. / Syndrome de Gilles de la Tourette : défis de la recherche pour améliorer la pratique clinique.

Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder which is characterized by the presence of motor and phonic tics. These tics are generally more prevalent in childhood. Tics typically reach their maximum severity before puberty, around age 10 to 12. In most patients, tic severity usually decreases during late adolescence and adulthood. However, this is not true for all individuals. To date, the developmental trajectory leading to the persistence of tics into adulthood is still poorly understood. There are very few markers that can predict the evolution of tic symptoms from childhood to adulthood. Yet, while we cannot cure Tourette syndrome, it is possible to reduce tic severity with various treatments. The most common treatments are pharmacotherapy and behavioral and cognitive-behavioral therapy. However, there appears to be a limit to the proportion of tics that can be treated, since most treatments offer an average reduction in tics of no more than 50%. Thus, at first, this article reviews recent advances in treatment and symptom progression. Next, we propose some lines of research to improve the management and treatment of people with Tourette syndrome.