Conditions
Trichotillomania
Trichotillomania is a compulsive disorder that results in sufferers pulling out hair from all parts of their body. Stress and despression are amongst the triggers for it, and it often develops in people’s teenage years. Sufferers can end up with disfiguring bald patches and irritation around the plucked pores. There are several treatments that doctors prescribe, the most common being Habit Reversal Training, which aims to identify the triggers and get sufferers to re-direct this impulse. Anti-depressants can also be prescribed and have been shown to improve sufferers symptoms.
Comments and Questions
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my 12 year old daughter pulls out her eye lashes. sometimes she has none left at all. she cant tell me anything about it and goes amd wen i ask her about it. I took her to the gp in october and they said for us to get to know her new friends at high school and to go back if no improvement. I ve done that but i cant get her to go back to see the gp, she shouts screams shuts her self in her room whem i mention it what can i do to help.
I have pulled my hair out for years ive had tablets off my doctor butits not helped , its starting to get me down !! Is there anything else i can do?
Hi, I'm 21 y/o. I started pulling my hair when I was only 11y/o then a huge bulge on my scalp was being seen and when I was at 6th grade, people laughed at me and called me things. Mom tried seeing me a psyhiatrist but she failed 'cuz it was closed. I cant tell her my problem cause she is my problem. I dont live w/ her anymore but I still pull my hair, sometimes my pubic hair. I tried plucking my legs' tiny hair too and I enjoyed hurting myself. I seriously don't know what to do but ever since I was a kid I am eating my hair follicles. Please reply. I always need someone to talk to. :(
Hi, I am pleased to tell u ur not On ur own. Ask ur GP to refer u to a phsycologist for some habit reversal training. I have only just been referred after 30yrs! I would love to appear on the show because I think i would be able To get proper help. Be strong kid! X
i dont believe i have tichotillomania as i dont put out my hair, i just eat it untill its too short to fit in my mouth, this gives my a constrant irritated cough, its maily the left side so i just have a massive wedge, many people just say cut your hair short but im 20 now and have never had long hair but want to grow it because i had to get it could short when i was younger because i would just eat it. i understand that tricotillomania sound much worse but i dont really putt at my unless im really angry. i really wanted to know if there is a different condition for this,or is it normal? because my friend deffinatly dont think so.
i am 15 and i pull my eyelashes and eyebrows out . ive been doing it since i was about 6 and i dont have a clue what could have triggered it , i try to stop by thinking im going to look ugly when they have all gone , and it works for a few secconds then im pullign again , every day i have to wear eye liner and draw my eyebrows on because when people start to notice they thought i has having treatment for cancer . after i pull the hair out i put it in my mouth and eat it. is there anything i could do to help me stop doing this ?
I used to have it, im also 15 and suffered from it for years, but I used to do it on my scalp head. anyway what i did was put an envelope at the end of the room and would put all my hair in it after I have picked it because eating it is really bad for you. anyway I was too lazy to walk over and put each individual hair in an envelope I stopped. The next time you do it note where you, what position your in, who's with you ect, i guarantee there will be a pattern and then try to avoid those situations. If these tips don't work I recommend behavioral therapy (this is where I got these tips from and it made me stop) Best of Luck Shannon x
I began pulling out eyelashes aged 9, loved the feel of the bristles growing in and the tug when a lash came out. Mum noticed when I started on my fringe, took me to the GP, but in those days (60s)it was treated as if they had fallen out-nobody asked if I was pulling them out. But I didn't want anyone to notice, so stopped, until underarm hair grew, a good substitute which I still pull and especially tweezer out. I don't eat the hair, but prefer strong hair with a dark bulbous root. I see this as harmless, but know I'm lucky to be able to keep it secret and to avoid head hair, nails etc. At 57, I must be the person who's done this the longest, and all that ever helped me was being able to transfer pulling to "unwanted" hair, win-win I think. Must be the only woman who wants her underarm hair to grow darker and faster! But these comments make me see that my case is mild, just very well established. Please do NOT email me if I get a reply.
I was told by the doctor I had Trichotillomania at only 9 years old and my mum was told it can be helped by auntidepressants but i was only 9 so we turned them down, after I was refered to a group in the hospital, I can't remember much on it I was only young but I do know it was unsuccessfull in helping me as I am now 17 and still suffer from it, I dont generally realise I am doing it until I have ran the hair through my mouth and dropped it on the floor, I just can't stop and my mum keeps telling me to stop and I do for a few seconds or if I dont pull the hairs on my head I bite my nails till they bleed and throb, another thing I have noticed is if I am running even a min late for anything I get anxious and start biting my nails and pulling my hair out, or even if it takes someone too long to text back i start thinking bad thoughts and again start either biting my nails or pulling my hair out, i only ever pull my hair out one by one but I just want to stop, I feel like I have no control and im looking for any help I can find to stop it.
I've been pulling my eyelashes out, and sometimes the hair on my head, for 22 years. (I'm 34 and I think I started at about 12 years old.) I worry and tease and pick at even the tiniest stub of regrowing hair so that sometimes my eyelids are red raw and swollen. I wish I was normal. I hate it. I'm dreadfully ashamed of it. I didn't even know it was a diagnosable condition until a few years ago so I thought I was a freak, odd, a misfit (to be honest, I still think that, how could I not?). I never talk to anyone about it and it's very rare that anyone else brings it up. The few times in my life that anyone has ever mentioned it I have just turned away, or changed the subject. However, I think about it every day. It's constantly on my mind, so it's hugely isolating. Imagining a huge secret that is a massive part of life, but that you have never been able to share with anyone! In other parts of my life I am successful, outgoing, intelligent, with a good career. But in secret I have this dreadful weight over me, and I can't bring myself to talk to anyone.
Hello everyone My twin sister has been pulling her hairs for years. She started to do it in her teens. We are now 39 years. It was so discreet, that nobody really noticed , but after a few years it was so noticeable that one day one of her professors from the university called me on my phone, to tell me that my sister behaviour was odd. I can't understand why she does it to herself. I wish could help her in a way overcome that for good, but it looks as if she gets really angry when people make any kind of comment on her condition. It is a shame seeing her wearing a wig. And the most scary thing is that she has isolated herself to a point where she has not let any of us see her in the last 7 years, and when I have suggested a family reunion, she won't let anyone visit her either, as she always resents being compared to her twin sister. I have only seen my sister through skype in the last years. Please help me to help her
im 17 and ive been pulling my hair out since i was about 10, i dont enjoy doing it because i get scared incase i go bald and i dont want that to happen, i have been to the doctors about it when i was in year 10 and they just told me to finish my coursework, yet i got that done still 2 nearly 3 years later im still pulling my hair out, ive recently been to the doctors and he told me there was nothing the can do about it but send me to someone to talk to, but i cant seem to let myself tell anyone what had happened in my past, also my doctor told me that he couldnt give me anything to help stop because i dont need it and because it could make me worse. can anyone help me??
I have been hair pulling since I was 14 I'm now 44 and only have 50% of my scalp hair and pubic hair. I eat the root once pulled out. Part off the pulled hair has grown back White/grey. My mother took me the docs when I was 15 n he sed I was just spoilt and my parents should ignore me it's now got to the point in my life where I can't cope. I keep moving to different parts of my head but now I'm struggling to keep it covered. I have no hair on top and just cover it with the surrounding hair and tie my hair up. I had the most perfect hair when I was younger in fact too perfect! I was abused when I was 13 and I think this triggered it as nobody knows except me and my hubby someone help me please !
Hi Andi, I eat my hair follicles too and I enjoy hurting myself when pulling my legs hair using tweezers! I keep pulling my hair and pubic haird. I just cant stop and dunno what to do too. I've not been in any treatment and was abused when I was 10 and mom wont believe me, I'm 21 now and I still do it and I dont live w/ mom anymore.
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