I have a sister who i share a room with, she is 2 years older and is sitting her advanced highers, she has began doing this – she pulls out her hair. i have noticed over the past few months, i didnt want to say, as i thought it would upset her, but i dont think she even nos she does it sometimes. Now it has got to the stage were she is paratically bald she has only long hair at the back of her head as she cant reach there. she is shy, and not very outspoken so i feel it is down to a lack of confidence and exams & tests approching also the thought of higher education. I dont no what to do to help her, and all my family noticed this at christmas, no matter how much she tried to hide it.
My mum has spoken to her, yet she has continued, my cousin offered hair extensions but she has said no. We are at our wits end, but its also upsetting me as im constantly worried for her, and i watch her sometimes and can count up to 30 hair's she pulled out in 10 mins.
i dont no what to do to help, sometimes im embarrised for her, like today, my mum asked me about it and i felt like i should cover up for her, and i no thats wrong as its just hiding it,
anyone got any suggestions, it would be much appreciated as i'd like to help. thanks.

I never realised this had a name. I was about 9 when I started with the eyelashes and then went onto the eyebrows. I didn't know why I did it so I was too ashamed to tell my family and claimed that they just fell out. We went to see so many doctors and when one of them accused me of pulling them I still blindly denied it and my mother backed me up all the way. I feel so bad. I don't do it as bad now, as when I was younger I pulled them all out, but now I just obsessively pluck my eyebrows and pluck a couple of eyelashes. But I only like pulling ones with black roots, is that just me? The only thing stopping me now from pulling them all out is vanity.

I'm 16, I've had trichotillomania since I was about 13, I've had therapy twice, first time it didn't really work out because I wasn't motivated and I didn't want to stop, it was comforting and it was just me. I've recently just finished an 8 week cycle of therapy, it has really helped, but the important thing is I'm motivated this time. My psychologist has helped me bring hair pulling into my awareness as I used to pull subconsciously, but now I know when I do it so I can stop myself.
There are ways out, don't feel trapped, go to your GP and they'll recommend you to someone, I really do advise this!
All the best

Just like a few others on here i have the same problem with pulling out my eyelashes and recently it has been my eyebrows. It started when i was 13 and i'm now 20. I like to think i conceal it wel but i don't and would very much like some help. Any advice would be appreciated!

i was so glad when i saw this on the tv show, i thought i was the only one.
i get so angry and upset with myself for doing it but i cant help it, and sometimes its kinda automatic.
i've lied to my mum for ages, telling her it falls out, i actually hate mysef for doing it, i get so disgusted when i see the pile of hair i just pulled out.
hopefully i can get some help without anyone finding out.

im 14 and cant stop myself from plucking out my hair down below, its really getting me down as it looks horrible and feels painful. i can spend hours a day tweezing and i dont realise that ive done too much until afterwards when i see the hair is all gone and i feel guilty about it afterwards. is there any kind of treatment that can make the redness go away ?

I thought it was a bad habbit too. I started pulling hair out a starand at a time when i was studying for my A levels. I go through stages where i pull loads out at a time then really regret it. I don't realise i am doing it half the time.
What makes me do it the most is when i have a small spot on my hairline. I havnt started pulling hair out from the top of my head, just the sides. So i can not wear my hair tied back. This upsets me, specially at school and uni proms when everyone else has beautiful hair all tied back, and i just have to cover my bold bits up.
I havnt been to the doctors because i dn't think they will be able to help. Its a habbit i need to try fix myself. Or has anyone been to the doctors and they have helped? Please let me know. xx

Im 18 and have had this problem from a very young age, i have never been to see a doctor about this as i have been to afraid and embarassed, when seeing this on thr programme i was amazed that there are other sufferers, i really want this to stop as everybody always mentions to me how stupid i look without eyebrows and eyelashes, please help me, i can't cope with it anymore =(

I didn't know that other people suffered from this. I don't pull my head hair out, but I like to pull my eyelashes and my eyebrows out. It started off pulling my eyelashes out when I had mascara on, but then I started to do it without make-up on. I then moved onto my eyebrows to try and thin them out, but I pull the eyebrows out which are close to my nose and they look really odd, not having eyebrows near my nose!

Hi, I am 39 years of age. Like a lot of people on here I started pulling out my hair when I was a teenager, it got worse when I was sitting exams, it continued through my A levels and during my degree. I constantly had bald patches at either side of my head where I pulled out individual hairs one at a time. My scalp was constantly sore but I couldn't stop and most of the time didn't even realise I was doing it. Well many years passed, I got married and had two children and the problem seemed to have gone away. Then 2 years ago I had to do some exams for work and guess what, I started doing it again and have not been able to stop since.
I think we all have our nervous habits, some people bite their nails, but no-one would go to the doctor about that. I have accepted that exam stress is a trigger. (I have a stressful job but the exams were the trigger.) I am happily married and have a lovely family. I have been successful in my career and I am not depressed. I would say that apart from pulling my hair out I am pretty normal and balanced!
Good luck to everyone trying to stop, wearing a cap and gloves helps me.