Trichotillomania (Pulling hairs out) Support Thread

This thread is to support anyone with trichotillomania or "trich." Here is how Wikipedia defines trich:

Trichotillomania, which is classified as an impulse control disorder by DSM-IV, is the compulsive urge to pull out one's own hair leading to noticeable hair loss, distress, and social or functional impairment, and in some cases one may even consume the hair. It is often chronic and difficult to treat.
Trichotillomania may be present in infants, but the peak age of onset is 9 to 13. It may be triggered by depression or stress. Due to social implications the disorder is often unreported and it is difficult to accurately predict its prevalence; the lifetime prevalence is estimated to be between 0.6% (overall) and may be as high as 1.5% (in males) to 3.4% (in females). Common areas for hair to be pulled out are the scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, arms, hands, and pubic hairs.
The name, coined by French dermatologist François Henri Hallopeau, derives from the Greek: trich- (hair), till(en) (to pull), and mania ("madness, frenzy").

I am really surprised that there are so few mentions of trich on TSR. It is surprisingly common, one celebrity with trich is Sam Faiers from TOWIE (ok not a major celebirty, but let's ot go there :tongue:

)
There is a bit of discussion about it on one other tread but I think trich deserves its own thread!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

From what I know people are usually to ashamed to talk about it. I know this because I have it myself and there are a lot of people online who have it and support sites that say the say thing.

But it's good you have posted this, more people should be aware of it because it's suppost to be really common. (Though you wouldn't think so because you'd think you would notice.. but then again, people usually hide it pretty well)

Reply 2

Anonymous #3

I also have trich, I've had since I was about 13. From 13 to 15 I had no eyelashes or eyebrows what so ever, as wasn't brought up in the best of environments and nobody understood which made it worse and I still have a day to day battle with myself and im nearly 25years old. I go through phases where it isn't a problem and then all of I sudden, ie stress, boredom it will come back and the wait of the hair to grow back makes my trich worse. I'm currently having a good phase at mo where it's took me the last 18 months to grow back a small part of my eyelashes which i continouslly pulled out when i was bored/stressed and now i'm hoping everyday I can leave them alone and move on from this! I'm happy to talk to anyone which the same problem for support etc. Were not alone and this thread is great, this should be made more aware to the public.

Reply 3

hjradley1

I have trich. I pull hair from my head - split ends and any that feel 'crinkly'. Ive had it for a few years and it started when I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety (still have the anxiety). Ended up with a bald patch although it's mostly grown back I have stubbly patches permanently at the back of my head but I have long hair so it's not noticeable. I have been told off at school and people have been really puzzled by my behaviour and its really hard to explain even to my friends what it's like. I've even started pulling my boyfriend's beard! It's a wonder how he puts up with it :/ this is a brilliant thread as I'm pretty sure that most people won't even had heard of it!

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 4

nellythehuffy

I do it in exams and lessons I'm finding stressful, usually without realising it until I see my hair on the page :/ I also cut myself which is triggered by similar feelings. Nobody understands either behaviour. Gah.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 5

emily27x

Oh my God I am so gutted. Had trich when I was really young, about 5. Then it went away, but recently with the stress of Alevel exams, a really bad break up and huge bouts of anxiety/depression it has come back worse than ever. I have just noticed that I have a small 'bald' patch at the back of my head. I can cover it fine, it's just a shame that I can't wear my hear in a middle parting now.

I am so terrified of going to the hairdressers though. I know them all there and I know that they would just be like wtf if they knew that I had trich and I can't face them and because of this I haven't had a haircut in months and I really, really need one.

Ah I'm just so upset by this bald patch I never knew that it had got to that stage and I have elbow length hair so if I don't cover it, it's so obvious. I know I'm better than some and I know that it's all my own fault but I can't help it and I'm so upset by this :'(.

Reply 6

polerina

I had this when I was younger. I pulled huge chunks of hair out whenever I felt stressed.
Thankfully I only do it on rare occasions now, but my problem is that my 'coping with stress' mechanism has become something else, something more damaging. urgh.

Reply 7

sktuckey

I've recently discovered that I have trichotillomania, my friend had read about Sam from towie having it and noticed I have some of the same symptoms. Now I look back I realise that I had been pulling eyelashes out since I was around 9, and even tried to pursuance my friends to do it too, then during sixth form I started pulling out hairs on my head that were really dark or frizzy and dry. recently at uni after my friend read the article I realised I was pulling all kinds of hairs and a lot of them. I also notice I pull them out when I'm bored or travelling in a car and end up with a pile of hairs near me. This summer whilst on holiday I seemed to pull hairs out non stop as it relaxed me and made me feel good but has left me with a bald patch which I am able to cover now ive moved my parting but it makes me very self conscious. I'm trying to stop and I really hope my hair will grow back.

Reply 8

liamb109

I did this all the time. Then I just got my hair cut short so I can't anymore.

Reply 9

zz_

Used to do it all the time when my hair was longer; it was never noticeable though. Still do it with my eyebrows for some reason. (not constantly. daily though)

Reply 10

raspberrybubbles

I just found this thread, happy it's here. Thought I wasn't the only one!

I've been pulling since I was 11, I'm 22 now. For a fair few years I didn't have any eyelashes and got bullied, thus perpetuating the cycle of pulling. After a while my eyelashes weren't really growing back, so I started on my eyebrows. I've been trying to stop for several years now - at one time I was sure my eyelashes weren't going to grow back at all. I have now managed to reduce significantly the number of incidences. Thankfully now I'll only pull one or two hairs out at a time before stopping. It's so, so difficult to stop and I can't just do that last bit. Now I try to keep my hands busy, by knitting or holding a stress ball in the other hand when reading.

Reply 11

croag

I made one of these threads once, glad another one has started up!
Er so yeah, I've had this since I was 11. idk how it started... but yeah. :/ I pull from my head, eyebrows and the left side of my body (lol idk, it's weird) and go through phases of having it and not. Right now I do unfortunately, probably because I'm stressed with moving to uni. Once I realise I'm pulling, I kinda clench my fists and let out energy... kinda? Like I'm angry, but I'm not. I once went 100 days without pulling, but that was years ago, couldn't do it anymore. I'm glad I have thick hair so it's not noticeable, although it has been before. I also pull hair from my eyebrows in the areas that I would if I was plucking, so it's not really obvious except serving as a manual set of tweezers I: I always look for the dark/frizzy hairs... ugh they need to go whatever the case, I don't tend to pull just normal hairs that don't have a kink in them.

Reply 12

Anonymous #4

I think I have a mild form of this; I pull out any eyebrow hairs I think that are growing out of place but it's always with my fingernails as it feels more satisfying than with tweezers.. suffice to say it ruins my nail varnish and I have ended up with pretty thin eyebrows. They aren't patchy but I'd certainly like them to be a bit thicker. I don't pull hair out from anywhere else though.

Reply 13

Anonymous #5

I also have this.
I've been pulling from a young age (6/7), don't know how I started and not sure how to stop :sigh:

My hair is short now (I'm a guy) so I don't pull.

Only my family know about this. It feels good when you pull but the consequences are dreadful (bald spots etc)
I pull mainly from my scalp and occasionally, eyebrows, eyelashes, armpit etc

:couchpotato:

Reply 14

Smoosh

Hi! I've been pulling my hair out, well, ever since I can remember having hair, so it's probably been going on for about 18 years.

I'm really fed up today :frown:

A few months ago I was really stressed, so it got a lot worse without me realising what I was doing. My hair is quite thin, but not patchy, but over the last few months it has got noticeably shorter. I don't pull out clumps, I just sort of wrap the ends of hairs around my fingers and snap them off. I do it completely without realising but I know it gets worse when I'm stressed, and annoyingly also worse when I'm sleepy or relaxed (e.g. browsing the internet late at night, or reading a book, I find myself doing it a lot).

I had my hair cut when I was about 15-16 (now 21) and I've been trying to grow it long again ever since, and undeniably, I know me pulling it out means it will never grow long again properly.

Today I have decided I'm fed up and I want long hair again, so I've tied it all up in a bun so that I can't pull at it. It's made me realise how often I reach for it! I'm currently keeping my hands busy by playing with a reel of cotton...I suppose because it feels similar to wrapping the hair around my fingers...so far so good!

Reply 15

Anonymous #6

I have this and it suucks, it used to be my eyelashes but wearing mascara practically stopped it but now i've started on my hair.. :/

Reply 16

JordanS94

I don't really know if I have this or not when I heard about it a while back, since I pull my hairs from everywhere, eyebrows head, legs but they never get that noticeable except for the bottom of my legs which I pull out so I have rectangles on my legs and my hair is always thin at the from of my head since it is quite thick normally. But no one notices so I'm sceptical about it...

Reply 17

Sabz15

I also have this, I pull my eyebrows out and although it's easily covered with eyebrow pencil I just want to stop > :frown:

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 18

Anonymous #7

I didn't know this was a condition, I'm not sure I'd class myself as having one...I like to pull hairs out of my eyebrows- removing all the hairs from in between them with tweezers as I'm paranoid about being seen as having a monobrow, but also when I'm bored/nervous I'll just grab my eyebrows and tug and always feel slightly satisfied when I see I've pulled a good few hairs out. Also when I was at school I got teased (in the sixth form for crying out loud, I don't even know why I let it affect me!) about having two moles (one on my arm, other on my shoulder) which have black hairs growing out of them, and the people teasing me said it made me look ugly and freaked them out. Since then I've made sure to pull out all of the hairs from both moles and not let them grow too long, and if I spot random out-of-place dark hairs on my upper arms/chest, I pull them out too. The most painful hair removal I've done so far (look away if squemish) was using tweezers to remove any hairs I found growing on the shaft of my penis, as I thought it'd turn any girl off if she saw me naked and I had hairs growing in the wrong place down there. I've stopped doing that now as it was excruciatingly painful, but I have accidentally cut myself with scissors down there trying to cut the hairs as short as possible.

Ok reading through all that, maybe it's time to re-evaluate and admit I may have a problem with my hair...

Reply 19

sktuckey

i tied my hair up today which I never do but I did because I was baking and it really helped, I don't remember pulling any hairs out from my head. I also tried to keep busy too, I'm quite proud of myself for one day :smile: